


Love Me at the Corner Cafe

by Heylittleyahtzee



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/F, coffeshop au, evil!ward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-21
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-01-20 05:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1498849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heylittleyahtzee/pseuds/Heylittleyahtzee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye likes to keep an eye on her regulars, so when Jemma Simmons comes in entirely flustered one morning Skye can’t help but reach out to her. It turns out that Jemma Simmons can’t help but return the favor. Unsurprisingly there is no going back from this</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the lovely kuramachakra! I hope you all like reading this as much as I liked writing it!

Skye thinks that everyone has had that moment when they just went for something; a moment when their dream was staring them in the face and they couldn't help but reach for it. That's how dreams work. They get inside you and burrow into your insides until you can't tell what you're doing to survive and what you're doing to keep that hope alive.

Skye's moment came one night when she picked herself off the floor of a hacking den, wiped every server to its bare bones, took two thousand dollars from the bosses stash, and never looked back. Her laptop and the code she’d written working for the boss were the only things left. She just couldn’t wipe it clean. That laptop had been her baby for almost two years. Albeit a baby used in nearly 700 felonies, but that wasn’t the computer’s fault. Skye vowed to never use the code again. She was going to move on. She was going to get herself out.

Skye has always been brilliant at surviving. Fifteen years in the foster system will do that to you. It took her exactly two weeks to find a job and a place to live, courtesy of a fellow hacker no less. The job was simple: 7 to 4 at a local bakery and coffee shop called the 15th Street Corner Cafe. It was easy work compared to some of the things she'd done in the past, and it allowed her to take night classes for her GED. Skye took the job as a sign from the universe that she was on the right track. 

She'd seen her dream, and she'd gone for it. 

But it was still a bitch to wake up at five thirty every morning.

With a grunt Skye lifted the last try of cinnamon buns into the display case and wiped her hands on her apron. It was 7:02 AM, two minutes after the Corner Cafe opened, and she already felt exhausted. Class had gone late the night before and she'd gotten maybe five hours of good sleep before her alarm woke her up. The only thing that was keeping her going was the knowledge that any minute her first regular was going to come in the door. It was that kind of place, and Skye found that caring for the people she made coffee for every morning made her life just a little bit better. It almost felt like family.

At 7:07 Mrs. Bentley would come in with her tiny dog Sanchez (who they weren't supposed to let in the store but fuck it, Sanchez is adorable) and she'd order a large black coffee with a lemon muffin cut in half. At 7:12 Doris from down the street and West would come from different directions and meet outside the door, come in together and insist that they were too old for that romantic nonsense. At 7:16 the regulars would be interrupted by the rush (though Danika, Chelsea, Arthur, Will, and Bex would all manage to sneak in on their way to school) and that was it until 7:30, when the last regulars always arrived very promptly to get breakfast before work.

Fitz and Simmons (or FitzSimmons if you'd ever heard them answer the phone together) are by far Skye's favorite regulars. Fitz was usually grumpy and adorable in the mornings, but always happy to see Skye and his coffee. Simmons was always cheerful, literally always, and tipped Skye whenever she thought she wasn't looking. Skye thought it was precious how they went everywhere together and finished each other’s sentences. She'd always wished she could have a friend like that, but the planets had never aligned.

There was something different about this particular Monday morning. They always arrived at 7:30 exactly, but 7:31 rolled around and FitzSimmons hadn't walked through the door, hadn't even appeared outside. Of course one minute wasn't that big of a deal, but one minute turned into five, and five minutes turned into fifteen and Skye began to panic. They were just customers; Skye grumbled to herself, it wasn't her business where they were. Maybe they'd decided to go somewhere different, or they'd moved, or one of them was in the hospital and... Skye stopped herself and took a deep breath. Her regulars, wherever they were, were fine.

Still, when Simmons finally walked in at 8 on the dot Skye let out the loudest relieved sigh in the world. 

"I thought you ditched us this morning," she said with a grin. Simmons smiled at her and began searching through her bag for her wallet. She also had a second bag slung over her shoulder, one Skye had never seen before.

"Yes well, Fitz had a meeting with the head of engineering this morning to discuss his promotion and wasn't there to bother me awake this morning," Simmons said ruefully. Skye snorted at the sudden image of Fitz sitting on Simmons' bed ranting about new scientific discoveries until she woke up

"A promotion, eh? Not too much more work I hope. We can't have him missing breakfast every day," Skye teased. Simmons giggled at that and accepted her coffee from Skye graciously.

"The promotion is all right, but the paperwork we have to fill out for security clearance is obscene," Simmons complained as she counted out change. She always had exact change somehow. From any other customer it would have been annoying, but Skye always loved it when Simmons counted out her change because she spent more time at the counter. At Simmons' confession about paperwork Skye tilted her head to the side. She'd gotten a promotion, too? Simmons looked up at her and grimaced.

"Oh, I'm sorry; I forget sometimes that Fitz and I aren't exactly normal when it comes to things like this. We always get promoted at the same time. They tried once, to promote one of us before the other even just by a week. We didn't handle it well," she explained. Skye chuckled at her and rang up the order.

"I'll have your croissant out in a minute," she told Simmons. Somehow a line had formed and the other customers were looking antsy. Simmons nodded and started to turn away. Suddenly she spun back around stopping Skye in her tracks, about to move to the cabinet to retrieve the croissant.

"Is it all right if I just sit over there, if you could um, just bring it to me?" Simmons asked nervously. Skye almost laughed at her attempt to sound friendly and make demands at the same time.

"Yeah that's totally fine. Whatever you want Simmons," she said. Simmons nodded and moved away quickly. Skye watched her go and wished that just once they might actually sit down and have a conversation. 

Simmons sat at the smallest table in the middle of the window and began sorting the papers in her bag into piles on the table. She couldn't believe she'd just made a fool of herself in front of Skye. It was bad enough she'd arrived late and upset the poor girl. If only the paperwork she'd been trying to fill out hadn't kept her up until almost two in the morning. They were only going from a level four clearance to a level five. What was so important about it? Honestly, sometimes Simmons wished she'd stayed in London to study biochemistry there instead of accepting the invitation to the S.H.I.E.L.D Academy. 

Of course she didn't really mean that. Going to the S.H.I.E.L.D Academy had been her dream since she and Fitz were small. They would have done anything to get in. The Academy was a bit like Hogwarts to them. It sent out invitations instead of receiving applications, it was in a faraway kingdom, really what young genius wouldn't have wanted to get in? The moment they received their invitations (together like everything else) had been the best moment of Jemma Simmons' life.

Before long her papers covered the small table and Simmons was staring at her laptop liked it'd grown a second screen. No matter what she did the Shield mainframe wouldn't let her resubmit for higher clearance and retrieve her new password. She'd tried everything! Simmons was going to poison whoever had decided that Fitz needed to have a meeting at the same time she needed help not looking like an idiot. She was so wrapped in her work that she didn't even notice when Skye walked up.

Skye on the other hand had absolutely no clue how to get Simmons' attention and ended up standing next to her awkwardly for a few moments before inconspicuously clearing her throat. Simmons jumped and looked up at Skye in surprise. Skye smiled at her and gestured at the table. There wasn't any space to put the food down. Simmons blushed and piled one stack on top of the other. 

"Sorry," she mumbled, taking another sip of her coffee. She frowned when she realized her coffee was already gone, but no sooner had she noticed, the cup was being plucked from her fingers and a replacement put in its place.

"I... thank you, Skye," Simmons said in surprise. Skye shrugged and played with the empty cup in her hands.

"Fitz always complains that you drink them fast, and you looked like you were going to need another one," she explained. Simmons smiled up at her and then realized she should pay Skye for the extra drink.

"Hold on, I think I have some more change-" Skye held up her hands.

"It's okay, it's on the house," she said quickly. Simmons stopped looking through her bag and peered up at Skye. On the house? Skye shifted awkwardly on her heels.

"I mean, you've literally looked like you were going to murder someone for the last ten minutes. It's a pick me up, on the house. I already paid for it with tips," she explained hurriedly. Skye didn't know why she'd done it exactly, but Simmons had looked like she needed a little kindness in her life. Simmons was still staring at her, mouth slightly open like she was going to say something. Skye suddenly felt nervous, like maybe she'd crossed some weird customer/waitress line and tried to look anywhere except directly at Simmons. 

Simmons was simply trying to figure out why a girl like Skye would buy her an extra cup of coffee with her own hard earned tips. It made something in her heart stutter a little to think that Skye was trying to take care of her. In fact she realized with a start that she'd never seen Skye out from behind the counter before. Their proximity made her feel slightly flushed and.... no, no it couldn't be. Simmons snapped her mouth shut and sat back slightly. She didn't know what to say to Skye, but that seemed to be all right because Skye wasn't looking at her anymore. Instead she was looking at the computer screen with its error message on it. Simmons grimaced. Lovely. Now Skye knew she was having mundane problems with the server too. How absolutely perfect.

"Having trouble?" Skye asked her. Simmons only nodded, her cheeks burning in shame. Skye seemed to pick up on this, hell she knew what a perfectionist Simmons was, and moved a little closer to peer at the screen. 

"Do you mind if I...?" She trailed off pointing at the screen.

"Oh um, not at all, Fitz usually explains it to me the first time and I'm fine after that but he's not here so um, yes go ahead," Simmons rambled. Skye couldn't help it and grinned to herself about how adorable Simmons was. Without thinking about it Skye stepped behind her and put her arms over Simmons' shoulders to reach the keyboard. Her cheek was mere centimeters from touching the side of Simmons' head, by Skye was gone, lost in the code, and didn't notice.

Simmons noticed though. Skye's long hair was brushing against her collarbone for one, and her face was just out of the corner of Simmons' eye. Over the last few months that Skye had worked at the coffee shop, Simmons had come to consider her a friend, but this was something different. The feeling of Skye hanging over her was warm and comforting. Perhaps she hadn't realized just how much she liked Skye's company. Simmons focused on watching Skye's hands fly over the keyboard and her own breathing. It was all she could do not to lean to the right ever so slightly and into Skye.

Suddenly her screen flashes and loads her work profile and all her pending research. Skye straightens up in triumph.

"Oh you fixed it!" Simmons exclaimed excitedly. Skye was absolutely amazing, Simmons decided.

"I have a way with computers," Skye said modestly. 

"Yes you're amazing with them," Simmons muttered, then realizing what she said she blushed and looked up at Skye. She was still standing right behind Simmons' chair, close enough to touch. 

And Skye had just noticed.

Of course she knew that Simmons was attractive. She doubted there was a single person who had ever walked past Simmons without knowing that. It just hadn't ever occurred to Skye that she might specifically find Simmons attractive. Except for the part where, y'know, she did. Oh god she was attracted to a customer. 

For a moment neither of them spoke. They just stared at each other, both a little wide-eyed and flustered. Finally, Simmons smiled at Skye and Skye smiled back.

"Thank-you for the help," Simmons said.

"Anytime," Skye replied. With one last smile she turned and went back to the counter. Simmons watched her go and had to resist the urge to squeal. The urge faded however when she realized that she was nearly fifteen minutes late for work. With a squeak she gathered her things and rushed out the door.

She completely missed the way Skye watched her go, a slightly sad but loving look that went completely unnoticed, but was definitely there.

When Simmons arrived at the lab, Fitz was already fiddling with the prototype of his beloved night-night gun and muttering about needing a lab monkey under his breath. Simmons shoved her bags onto her desk and threw her lab coat on as fast as humanely possible. Fitz looked up from his project and sighed in annoyance.

"There you are! Do you have any idea what time it is?" he chastised.

"Fitz something's happened," Simmons said hurriedly.

"You're right, you're late," he sassed. He turned back to his project but then stopped and looked back at his best friend. She looked confused and slightly excited.

"Oh something's happened," he said. 

"I think I might have a tiny bit of a crush on Skye," Simmons explained. Fitz was at her side instantly. 

"Barista Skye? What brought this on? Did she reject you? Do I need to give her a stern talking to?” Fitz glanced at the night-night gun and lowered his voice, "You know it's almost done I bet we could sneak it out of here if we were really careful-" 

"Fitz!" Simmons exclaimed, "No! I just need you to make sure I really actually do have a crush on her!" Fitz deflated.

"Oh," he said, "Well what am I looking for?" Simmons shrugged.

"Dilated pupils, increased heart rate, and color in the cheeks..." she rattled off. Fitz looked at her for a moment.

"Do you remember last week when Skye had to go into the storeroom behind the counter to get milk for my tea and she was wearing that blue dress that you said you loved and she had to bend over to reach the milk?" He asked. 

Oh yes, Simmons remembered. She didn’t even need Fitz to tell her that her heart was hammering in her chest or that her cheeks were flushed. Fitz rolled his eyes.

"Well, yes, Simmons it appears you have a crush," he said. Simmons sighed heavily.

"Fantastic, we can never go there again," she muttered. Fitz, who'd gone back to his project, looked up sadly.

"Why not? They have the best scones!" he whined.

"Because I can't go in there every day and act inappropriately smitten with the barista!" Simmons exclaimed, "That would be so unfair! She can't avoid me or anything, she works there!" Fitz simply shrugged.

"She might like you back," he reminded her. For the first time since the shop Simmons stopped to think about it. Yes, Skye most certainly could like her back. In fact it seemed like she might, with the way they'd smiled at each other and... No, Simmons couldn't just think Skye liked her; she needed to know for sure.

"I can't just assume Fitz! I'm a scientist!" She exclaimed. Fitz rolled his eyes.

"It’s too early in the morning for this," He said. With a dramatic wave he tossed off his lab coat and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Simmons yelled after him.

"To get a cup of coffee!" he yelled back.

Skye was having almost the same crisis as Simmons except she was completely fine with assuming Simmons at least had a tiny crush on her considering the way they'd been looking at each other earlier. Skye was not a scientist. Facts didn’t matter to her when it came to dealings of the heart. What did matter was the fact that Jemma Simmons was so very much better than she was. 

Miles, Skye's very lovely next door neighbor and owner of the Corner Cafe (the guy she knew from the internet that gave her the job in fact), had come in at 8:45 to find his favorite barista/baker staring blankly off into space as she wiped down the counters for probably the eighth time. He knew better than to ask. Every once in a while Skye would get that look on her face, and if he asked he never got an answer. On the other hand if he stayed away and didn't bring it up.....

"This isn’t fair!” Skye exclaimed, "I can't have feelings for Simmons! She's so perfect and I'm just a freaking barista! I mean shit we're only three years apart and she's already this top level scientist at the largest defense organization in the world!" They were standing in the back room, Skye leaning against the one of the ovens and Miles washing glasses at the sink. 

"Wait, how do you know how old she is?" Miles asks in amusement. God, he loves this. Skye is always hilarious when she freaks out about something. She always complained for hours and then made the right decision in two seconds. Classic.

"I hacked into her computer for her and I might have looked at her info by accident when I was changing her password," Skye explained quickly.

"You hacked into her computer?" Miles asked with a laugh. Skye shrugged.

"She got a promotion and the server accidentally set her password back to the default. I just changed it back for her, it wasn't a big deal" she muttered, "And besides that isn't even the point! She got a promotion today, Miles. She's way out of my league. Even if she has feelings for me I'm just going to end up hurting her!" Miles looked at Skye sternly. The freaking out he could deal with, but there was no shit-talking yourself under the Corner Cafe roof.

"Skye you're goddamn brilliant. You're taking six classes right now, on top of working here basically full time. You can hack a firewall in like thirty seconds flat. If she likes you she likes  _you._  Maybe it doesn't work out, sure, but you should at least ask her out or something," he argued back.

"Whatever, it'll never happen," Skye sighed. Out front the bell above the door jingled. Skye looked out and saw Fitz walk up to the counter. She smiled and walked out to take his order.

"Just my usual please," he said with a smile, "I'm absolutely starving." Skye rang up the order and went to get his scone.

"Simmons said you had a meeting. I was worried when you guys didn't show up on time," Skye said. Fitz nodded. He was acting a little odd, watching her intently and smiling nicely in a way that was not... well, Fitz.

"Yeah, it was just a project review. Simmons is the one that does the important stuff. She's fantastic, that one, don’t you think? In every way really,” he said slowly. A slight blush rose on Skye's cheeks and her eyes went wide. She really hadn't wanted to think about how gorgeous and sweet Simmons was again but the thoughts popped into her head anyway.

"Um..." Skye said, because it was hard to pay attention while remembering the feeling of being so close to Simmons. Behind her Miles vigorously nodded his head yes and pointed at Skye. Skye ducked her head to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear awkwardly. Fitz winked at Miles, who gave him a thumbs up.

"Anyway, thanks for the coffee Skye, appreciate it," Fitz said. He picked up his breakfast and hurried out of the bakery. Skye slumped against the counter in defeat; there was no way around it. She had a huge crush on Jemma Simmons.

Fitz walked down the street with extra bounce in his step. Jemma and Skye liked each other.

It was brilliant. 

Everything was absolutely brilliant.


	2. Chapter 2

The FitzSimmons apartment is on the third floor of a recently remodeled warehouse building. They have a kitchen, two bedrooms, bonus room, living room, and their own bathrooms. Dark wood floors cover 95% of the apartment, the other 5% being the tile in the bathrooms, and the walls are concrete and brick where the wall used to be the exterior of the building. The ceilings are high and the lights are a mix of industrial and residential. It is the kind of place that has an edgy sophistication to it, but can also be high end rugged fashion when it needs to be. The elegant furniture and laboratory equipment in the bonus room are what make the place home. 

On this particular morning Simmons is standing in front of her closet looking at the full-length mirror she’d hung there months ago. Sighing, she straightens her shirt once, twice, three times, and lets her hands fall to the sides. It’s not that she doesn’t like the outfit she’s put on, a grey button up with a navy blue tie, dark wash jeans, and a black cardigan over top. In fact she’s wearing her favorite button up, her favorite tie, and her favorite jeans. No, the clothes are not exactly the issue, even if she had tried on six different outfits in the last twenty minutes.

It’s Skye.

And then again it’s not Skye.

Mostly it’s Simmons.

Jemma Simmons likes rules and things turning out like they ought to. Even when things don’t turn out like they ought to, the structure of a system, even a flawed one, gives her comfort. When there’s a system she knows what to expect and can plan for certain outcomes. Skye has no system. Skye is a person. There’s no way for Jemma to know what will happen when she and Fitz walk into the Corner Café for breakfast, where they will inevitably and unavoidably see Skye, speak with her even, and that is making Jemma nervous. Very very nervous.

Somehow her anxiety has translated into her entire wardrobe ending up on her bed in a crumpled heap. Just looking at it is making her anxious, but she doesn’t have time to fold all the clothes and hang them up again. On the other side of the room Fitz pokes his head in the door. He’d been waiting for Simmons for almost ten minutes. They weren’t late yet, thank god, but she was taking an absurd amount of time to get ready. Fitz sympathized with her to a point, but this was just getting ridiculous. Jemma was working herself into a tizzy.

“You look fine Jem, just give it a rest already,” he said, “You’re going have a panic attack.” Jemma turned around and looked at him with big worried eyes and a slight frown.

“I don’t want to look fine, Fitz. I want to look my best,” she explained exasperatedly.

“Oh come on, you always look you’re best. You’re Jemma Simmons. You can’t look anything but the best,” he replied as if it was obvious.

“Fitz, you’re like my brother and I love you dearly, but this is not your area of expertise,” she said as she turned to face the mirror again.

“Y’know the last time Skye saw us and expressed anything besides happiness was…” he paused to think about it sarcastically, “That’s right, never, it was never because it’s never happened!” He threw his hands out at his sides for emphasis. Simmons rolled her eyes and tugged at her shirt again, Fitz sighing behind her. 

“There’s nothing to worry about,” he said gently, “There are two possibilities: she likes you or she doesn’t. You’re going to have to find out eventually. Besides with the way she looked yesterday, I’d hazard it’s the first one.” Simmons turned to glare at him. She hadn’t been all that impressed by his detective work yesterday, and wasn’t any more keen on it now.

"A loss for words and enthusiastic nodding from her boss is not sound evidence Fitz!" Simmons exclaimed. For all they knew Skye had simply been confused. They didn’t even know her boss or his qualifications, which indicated he wasn’t a reliable source anyway. Fitz’s data was circumstantial at best!

"Why do you always make these things difficult?" Fitz asked, "Skye likes you! It's obvious she likes you." Simmons sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"It used to be obvious that the sun revolved around the earth, and look how well that turned out," she countered. Fitz just sighed. 

“Well, I’m leaving because I’m hungry and I need coffee to deal with management properly so if you want to come feel free,” Fitz said. He knew Simmons wouldn’t let him go without her, not again. He turned and walked out of the doorway as if he was really going to leave her behind.

Simmons groaned. She knew Fitz wasn’t going to leave without her, but she also knew he was right. It was now or never, and as nervous as she was seeing Skye sounded heavenly. Regardless of her feelings, Skye was there friend and Jemma would have to deal with the outcome of her feelings eventually. It was inevitable really, that the two of them meet one way or the other. Jemma grabbed her shoes from the bed and rushed out into the hall.

“Fitz don’t you dare leave me behind!”

He hadn’t of course. He was waiting at the front door with a smile on his face and her coat like a true friend would. 

“Just act natural all right?” Simmons pleaded with him. Fitz nodded resolutely. He would do no such thing.

A few blocks away, Skye was not having the best day. When seven rolled around she was still in the back, hunched over the glowing screen of her phone cursing quietly to herself. Her chemistry teacher had given her a D on the last test and her homework assignments weren’t far from that mark either. It was the last class she needed to get her diploma that wasn’t an elective. Of course she had to be bad at chemistry. It wasn’t like the universe could let her be good at two different sciences. That‘d just be too good to be true. Sometimes she wished she’d just taken the GED test instead of enrolling in a full diploma program.

“Skye!” Miles called from the front, “Your regulars are showing up!” Skye reluctantly tucked her phone away and threw on her apron. Miles caught her in the doorway and looked at her curiously.

“Everything all right, kid?” he asked. Skye shook her head in annoyance.

“Shitty grade in chemistry. It’s totally killing me,” she grumbled. Miles nodded understandingly and handed her a few order tickets. Her first three regulars were here and had already ordered. Skye took the tickets and got to work. She was already five minutes behind schedule. If she fell any farther behind the breakfast rush was going to suck. She’d gotten sucked into more than one shitty morning that way, and wasn’t looking to repeat the experience. Even with the two of them they always seemed to get swamped if everything wasn’t completely ready when all the business types flooded in.

Usually Skye had time to stop and chat with the regulars when they came in, but things moved along quickly and before she knew it, it was almost 7:35 and she was behind on four orders with a line at the register. The mood she was in didn’t help any. They had busy days, and then they had busy freaking days that seemed to last forever and always made Skye sore the next morning. No one was meant to make coffee that fast or that many times in a fifteen minute time span. On the bright side she was starting to have really great hand-eye coordination. 

She was so caught up in keeping the line moving, making orders, and feeling sorry for herself that she didn’t see FitzSimmons come in until they were at the front of the line, whispering aggressively to one another. Skye felt her heart beat faster at the sight of Simmons, who was absolutely stunning in a grey button down and navy tie. God she wished she had a chance. 

Simmons was having almost the same reaction to Skye. Her chest was still rising and falling from running the last four orders, her face flushed. Simmons bit her lip and reminded herself to smile. Fitz just went along with it, his grin wide and amused at the looks on the ladies’ faces. Skye forced a smile, quickly shoving her feelings to the side and hoping they hadn’t noticed her give Simmons the once over.

“Hey, guys!” she said breathlessly, trying to sound like her usual happy self. Simmons flinched internally. Skye didn’t look happy to see them, though she was trying. She knew she’d ruined everything. 

“Hello Skye!” Fitz said, both too quickly and too enthusiastically, “How’s your day going?” Skye shrugged. 

“Oh, it’s going,” she answered politely. She didn’t want to drag them into any of her problems, especially not when she was so far behind. It didn’t help that what she was having problems with was school and they were like, freaking geniuses. Skye felt her mood sink a bit more. Everything was just making her feel awful today. Fitz and Simmons seemed to notice. Simmons was holding her hands tightly in front of her and not exactly looking at her. Fitz’s smiled faltered.

“Is everything alright?” he asked. Skye shrugged again.

“It’s nothing really, just some personal stuff,” she told them reassuringly. There was a short pause and Skye took a deep breath.

“The usual?” she asked. Her eyes slid over to Simmons unintentionally and she swallowed at the blush creeping up the other woman’s face. 

“Yes,” Fitz confirmed loudly at the same time as Simmons quietly voiced a “Yes, please.” Skye looked between the two of them suspiciously. Something was up. Fitz and Simmons just looked back at her innocently, too innocently. Had something happened? Suddenly, Skye was worried. Simmons looked about ready to faint and Fitz looked like he was trying to ignore it something fierce.

“What about you guys?” she asked, “Everything all right with you?”

“Oh yes, perfectly,” Simmons spoke up quickly, not trusting Fitz to answer at all, “Long night is all.” Skye nodded at her, unconvinced. Maybe it was about her, or personal. Either way, Simmons’ fast response didn’t sit well with her. 

“Okay, it’ll be out in a minute,” she said slowly, carefully tucking her anxiety into the back of her mind. Fitz paid and then looked around the café.

“And I think we’d like that for here today,” he said nonchalantly. Simmons face dropped and she looked at Fitz in surprise. Skye watched them, unsure of what exactly was going on.

“We’re going to stay?” Simmons squeaked. Fitz shrugged.

“Might as well, we’re always twenty minutes early anyway,” he said like this was all the usual business. Simmons was pale. There was only one explanation for Fitz wanting to stay and that was to talk to Skye. She gave him a warning glare but he just smiled at her and turned to Skye. 

“We’ll be at the table in the corner,” he told her. Skye nodded and gave them a quick smile like always. On the inside she was starting to freak out. If they started spending time in the café there was no way she could keep her distance from Simmons. They were going to end up talking and getting to know each other and it would all just go downhill from there. The worst part was it sounded nice, like a relationship with a high ranking government scientist wasn’t the worst idea in the world. Skye was a felon for gods-sakes, was it even legal for them to date?

While Skye moved numbly through the rest of her orders, Fitz and Simmons sat down at the table Fitz had indicated; it was a small one meant for two people and pushed up against the wall. From it they could see the entire café, which made Simmons feel a tiny bit better, but not entirely. She wanted to know what Skye had meant by “personal.” Even if she was simply having a bad day, it felt important, like something Simmons desperately needed to know. She squashed the feeling down. Asking questions would only make things worse. 

“Did you see the way she looked at us?” she asked immediately as they sat down, “We should have just gone. This is ludicrous!” She watched Skye move about behind the counter. She looked tired and annoyed.

“That wasn’t aimed at us,” Fitz said dryly, “She said she was having personal problems, remember? It didn’t even happen five minutes ago.” Simmons glared at him.

“If she’s having a bad day we shouldn’t bother her,” she said, “What were you thinking saying we’d stay?” Fitz shrugged.

“Well she helped you yesterday, didn’t she?” he asked, “I was thinking you could return the favor.” Simmons glanced back at Skye again. Honestly she just wanted to walk over and give her a hug, but that would probably be considered creepy. 

“I don’t know Fitz; we already asked once, what if she gets angry?” Simmons asked.

“Then we apologize for intruding. Don’t you want to know what’s bothering her?” he asked. Simmons sighed heavily. She did very much want to know what was bothering Skye. Specifically so she could go out and fix whatever it was that had her so down. 

“Yes, I do,” Simmons admitted softly. Despite her nerves she found that she still wanted to be close to Skye, to talk with her and see her smile. Only Skye wasn’t smiling for some reason. Simmons watched Skye intently as she picked up two coffees and walked over. As Skye crossed the room her face morphed into a smile again, a little bit better than before but not entirely. By the time Skye set the drinks in front of them Simmons was openly staring. Skye looked at her awkwardly.

“You okay, Simmons?” she asked. Skye had seen them looking at her before of course, and leaning closer to whisper together. Now Simmons was staring at her with a forlorn look on her face. Skye had the sudden urge to lean forward and kiss her to make her smile again. She felt a blush start in her cheeks and quickly thought about the time she walked in on Miles with the waitress from the bar next door. Simmons took a deep breath. It was now or never.

“I just couldn’t help but wonder what’s upset you,” Simmons said as gently as she could. Skye’s eyes widened. Her personal problems had really bothered Simmons that much? She felt the blush coming back this time and was powerless to stop it. She opened her mouth to lie, but Fitz and Simmons were looking up at her with the biggest worried eyes she’d ever seen and she just couldn’t do it.

“I got a bad grade on a test,” she sighed, “And it just kinda threw my whole day out the window.” At the mention of school and failing Fitz and Simmons looked absolutely devastated. Getting a bad grade was the worst possible fate a person could suffer in their eyes. 

“Oh no, I’m terribly sorry Skye,” Simmons said. There was something in her voice that made Skye’s breath stick in her throat. She’d never had anyone worry for her before, except for Miles. All of a sudden she felt big and exposed standing up in front of them. All she wanted to do was curl up in Simmons’ lap and take a nap.

“Terrible that is,” Fitz agreed, “What subject was it?” Skye shrugged.

“Chemistry. Turns out I’m only good at one kind of science. I’ll figure it out though; you really don’t need to worry about me. No one died or anything,” she said with a small smile to them both. Simmons and Fitz looked at each other. Fitz raised an eyebrow at Simmons. She had the time to help Skye in chemistry. The promotion they’d just been given also meant all of their projects were being updated and on hold. Besides it wasn’t like they had much life outside of Shield. Simmons bit her lip. Oh god, was she really going to do this?

“Skye, I don’t mean to assume anything, but, chemistry is what I study and I wouldn’t mind perhaps… tutoring you a bit?” She asked. She wanted Skye to say yes. She wanted to hold Skye in her arms and make sure nothing ever upset her. Skye looked at Simmons in surprise. Well that wasn’t what she’d expected at all. Simmons wanted to teach her chemistry. Her heart practically exploded out of her chest.

“I… uh… yeah that would be awesome,” she said quickly, still slightly in shock. When her brain finally caught up with her she grinned brighter than she had all day. Simmons wanted to spend time with her doing chemistry. She actually wanted to spend time with her, and maybe it was only for the science but Skye was going to take what she could get. Simmons smiled back widely. Her nervousness had evaporated. Skye was at least happy to share her company, which had to mean something. Perhaps she just wanted to be friends. Either way Simmons was willing to do whatever it took to see more of her. They smiled at each other fondly; each realizing for the first time that there might be hope for their relationship. 

To the side, Fitz sipped his coffee silently and tried not to stare at them. It was almost too cute to watch the two of them smiling at each other like a pair of love-struck teenagers. Score one for Fitz, he thought to himself. 

“I could come over after the café closes,” Simmons suggested softly, “We could just work on it here.” Skye nodded quickly.

“Yeah, totally, that works,” she confirmed, “We close at four. That wouldn’t like, mess with your work schedule would it?” Simmons shook her head.

“No that would be absolutely perfect,” she said. Skye bit her lip and bounced on her heels.

“So I guess it’s settled then, this afternoon work?” she asked hopefully.

“Whatever you’d like,” Simmons answered.

“Definitely this afternoon, that would be great, like really great,” Skye rambled, “I’ll clear it with Miles. I mean he won’t have any problem with it, but I’ll go tell him, let him know we’ll be here.” Simmons giggled at her and Skye blushed again.

“All right well I’d better be getting back to work, I’ll see you later,” Skye said, “You too Fitz, I’ll see you tomorrow morning yeah?” Fitz smiled at her.

“Of course Skye, have a good day,” he said. Skye gave them each one last quick smile and jogged back to the counter. Fitz and Simmons looked at each other.

“I’m falling for her something awful aren’t I, Fitz?” Simmons said in a tone of awe.

“Yeah, but you couldn’t have picked better,” he told her. Simmons blushed and turned to her coffee. She was going to teach Skye chemistry. She almost couldn’t believe it.

Behind the counter Skye couldn’t believe it either.

“She offered just like that,” she whispered to Miles, “and I couldn’t say no, I mean, there’s something about her and I just want to be around her all the time.” Miles laughed and tossed some scraps into the compost.

“I hate to say I told you so…” he said. Skye punched him in the arm lightly. 

“It’s not like that,” she told him, “We’re just going to study!” Miles grinned.

“Sure you are,” he said. Skye rolled her eyes at him and got back to work cleaning up after the morning rush. Her shitty day had turned into the best day ever. She couldn’t wait for closing time.


	3. Chapter 3

Skye thinks that maybe, just maybe, she can get Miles to cover the last fifteen minutes of the day so she can run upstairs and take a shower before Simmons gets to the café for their ~~study date~~ study session. She waits until the last minute to ask, pretty confident the less time she leaves between the question and the event, the better her chances are. When she finally asks Miles just laughs and shakes his head.

“I’ve got to run down to the parts shop and get that replacement for the mixer, remember?” he said amusedly. Skye sighed. Yeah she remembered, and though she’s glad they’ll have two mixers again she also really really wanted that shower. She sucked it up and worked the last ten minutes as slowly as possible so she wasn’t absolutely disgusting when four o’clock rolls around. The last two people in the café packed up when she started emptying the display case. Miles headed out soon after that, escaping just as Skye finished stacking the clean coffee mugs, and suddenly the café was entirely empty.

Skye hadn’t exactly thought this through. She’d assumed that Miles would be there when Simmons came by, but getting the part will take an hour at least and he’s always been prone to chatting with the guys down at the hardware store. Skye tried to ignore the impending realization that she and Simmons would be completely alone together and figured two minutes was not enough time to take a shower. Instead she trudged upstairs, threw on a clean shirt, and grabbed her backpack. When she got back downstairs at 4:01 there was still no sign of Simmons so she piled her things at the corner table and slid into one of the chairs.

Skye rarely fidgeted but for some reason she couldn’t seem to get comfortable. Her knee jumped up and down. Her hands fiddled with split ends. Her mind kept going back to the look on Simmons face when she’d asked if Skye wanted a tutor. She’d been so concerned and honestly caring in that moment that Skye didn’t know what to do with herself. God she probably wasn’t even going to survive this tutoring session if Simmons kept looking at her like that.  She looked at the clock again. 4:05. She wasn’t sure how much more she could take of this. Hopefully Simmons showed up soon.

Little did Skye know that Simmons was standing at the end of the block for nearly ten minutes contemplating how exactly she was going to approach the whole thing.  People brushed passed her irritably but she paid them no mind. She was too busy formulating a plan. Skye hadn’t said what chemistry class she was in, but Jemma assumed it was a low level college class from the way she referred to it. They’d most likely be discussing compounds and reactions of the more violent type this late in the year. She wondered how far behind Skye was. What if there wasn’t enough time to mend the grade before the term was over? No, she couldn’t think like that. They’d succeed if it was the last thing she did.

Simmons squared her shoulders and set off down the block again. She’d just knock on the door and go in like everything was perfectly normal. Hopefully Skye wouldn’t crack too many jokes or smile too much. She could only imagine how distracting it might be while they were trying to work. Oh no, she hadn’t even thought of that. What if she forgot the periodic table the second Skye looked at her or something? This time she paused right outside the café. Oh god she couldn’t do this. What if she got flustered and Skye asked her why? What was she going to do? Lie? She was terrible at lying!

Simmons was so wrapped up in trying to decide how she should present herself that she didn’t notice when Skye came to the door and opened it for her. Skye had seen her from her place at the table and risen to let her in. When Simmons stayed in the middle of the sidewalk, eyes fixed on some bit of concrete in front of her, Skye had leaned up against the doorframe and waited for her to come back to earth. Only it didn’t seem to be happening. Skye sighed. Simmons hadn’t even made it in the building before she started doing adorable stuff that made Skye turn into a giant human jell-o cube. 

“Hey, Simmons,” Skye said, then a bit louder, “Simmons!” Jemma blinked and looked up at her. Skye smiled at the slightly confused look on her face. Simmons felt warmth fill her chest at Skye’s smile and she returned it enthusiastically. Skye’s calm attitude seemed to soothe her own nerves and she stepped forward into the café easily.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “I was trying to think if I forgot anything.” Thankfully the statement was truthful enough that she didn’t stutter or look away or any of the other awful things she usually did when she lied. Skye just shrugged.

“I don’t mind,” she replied easily, “In fact let’s delay the science some more, how was your day?” Simmons laughed and rolled her eyes at Skye’s procrastination tactics as they sat down together at the corner table.

“It was interesting,” she said. Truly. The assistant director of research and development had stopped by to observe Fitz and Simmons work. It’d been strange. The assistant director NEVER stopped by to observe anyone! They’d worked through it, of course, like they always did. Fitz and Simmons were so used to ignoring each other’s strange experiments (and in Fitz’s case, dead cats) that they hardly noticed real live people.

“Yeah mine was just crazy. I think everyone in the city stopped by today. I literally haven’t seen that many customers since marathon weekend,” Skye complained. Simmons’ mouth went dry at the adorable way Skye rolled her eyes and leaned her chin on her arms. It was like every movement Skye made exerted force directly onto her heart.

“Well, in that case we should get started before you crash and fall asleep on me shouldn’t we?” Simmons asked. Skye grinned at her.

“I knew you were going to say that,” she said as she pushed the material for the class across the table towards Jemma. The scientist took it and began scanning over it. It was much simpler than she thought it would be, but looking at Skye’s notes she could tell why she was confused. Some people just didn’t have a knack for chemistry like she did. It wasn’t anything anyone should be ashamed of, though a cursory glance at the class number did surprise her. 

“Oh, this is a high school class,” Simmons breathed. Suddenly visions of getting arrested for fraternizing with a minor flashed through her head. She’d just assumed Skye was a college student. She certainly looked like one. Across the table Skye froze. She hadn’t thought to specify that she was getting her high school diploma, not a college one. Simmons sudden realization made her feel somewhat inferior. There was nothing to do about it now but come clean.

“Yeah…,” Skye said in embarrassment, “I uh, never finished high school. I made it halfway through freshman year before I dropped out.” Simmons looked up at her in surprise. So Skye was older. For a second there she’d been planning her not guilty appeal. She was curious as to why Skye dropped out though.

“May I ask why?” she asked. Skye shrugged.

“Wasn’t a good fit at the time,” she said quietly. Simmons nodded.

“It happens,” she replied with a smile, “Let’s get started. I’m sure I can figure a better way to teach this than what your horrid teacher is doing.” This made Skye laugh.

“Can’t stand bad teachers?” Skye asked. Jemma shrugged. 

“Not bad, they’ve just only been taught to teach by the book and when they run into a student that learns differently they don’t have the time or the resources to teach differently,” she murmured as she went over the material and selected several portions to work on. Skye watched her with a small smile. She was suddenly very glad she’d agreed to let Simmons teach her. Simmons didn’t notice the adoring look on Skye’s face, which was probably for the best. She pursed her lips and pointed at a specific place in the book.

“Now, let’s start with this group of elements here…”

An hour later, they’d made it through more chapters in the book than Skye thought she’d actually read in the first place. She was surprised to find most of it was making sense. Simmons had been right. Just changing the way the information was explained helped a ton. The teacher had just been forcing them to memorize it outright, but Simmons had all these neat memory tricks and had been equating each thing to something easily found in everyday life. Skye could see why she was considered to be the best of the best.

“Skye, are you paying attention?” Simmons asked. Skye blinked up at her.

“Sorry, I was just thinking,” she mumbled, looking back at the book. Simmons opened her mouth to ask her what about but then thought better of it. If Skye didn’t want to tell her she shouldn’t push.

“Why did you go to work with Shield?” Skye asked suddenly. Jemma looked up from the material in surprise.

“What do you mean?” she asked in confusion. Skye shrugged.

“You’re just, pretty much the smartest person I know and I’m wondering why you work for a federal defense bureau instead of like, a famous lab doing your own research or something,” Skye explained. Simmons smiled brightly.

“Oh that’s easy! For one, Shield has many beneficial resources for research. A lot of times we’re far ahead of the other labs, excluding Stark Industries of course. The real reason I joined, however, is because I like helping people,” she said. Skye felt her stomach do a little flip. Of course she did. 

“So… you’re like a secret crime fighter or something?” Skye asked, “helping in the battle of good vs. evil from the lab?” She didn’t know why she was still going. She already knew the answer was going to be a bad one. Simmons shrugged.

“I just absolutely loathe people who take advantage of other’s and break the law for their own gain. I never understood why anyone would do it. All it does is hurt people. Of course I guess that depends on the law as well. There are some I don’t agree with at all and could care less if someone broke them, but the majority are sound and should be followed as best as can be,” she explained passionately. Skye felt her heart sink. Simmons was talking about her. She was one of those people who had broken the law for their own gain. 

Skye frowned. She’d only done the things she had because she hadn’t seen another way. She’d been fifteen, on her own, and trying to survive. When the boss had picked her up in an internet café she’d thought he was going to save her. Of course she’d been wrong, but how was she to blame for that? He’d convinced her they were the same. It’d only been her own conviction that she could be better that had gotten her out of there. Sure she’d committed crimes, but she’d been forced to.

Simmons noticed immediately when Skye fell silent. She watched as her expression darkened. Had she said something wrong? Simmons hadn’t meant to offend Skye. She’d just been speaking the truth. Skye on the other hand was trying to figure out how she was going to get over Simmons. It was obvious now that it wasn’t going to work out between them, not with her past still out there somewhere. There was a long moment of silence as each of them tried to figure out what to say.

“Skye,” Simmons finally said tentatively, “Have I upset you somehow?” Skye looked out the window.

“No, of course not,” she sighed, “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Simmons offered hesitantly. Did they even know each other well enough to have this conversation? Simmons couldn’t tell by the look on Skye’s face what she was thinking about. Perhaps it was deeply personal and she shouldn’t have asked.

“We’re just really different people,” Skye said like that explained everything. Simmons froze. Oh no. Had she done something that gave away her feelings for Skye? Had she realized that Simmons was falling head over heels for her and this was her reaction? Simmons tried to think back to what she’d been doing. She hadn’t maintained eye contact for too long, or looked at Skye’s breasts (at least not when she would have noticed), or any of the many things that might have given it away. In fact she was at a total loss for what was happening.

“I’m sorry?” she said in confusion. Skye sighed again. She looked frustrated.

“You’re just so good and accomplished and honorable. I’m just…” she trailed off unhappily. Simmons’ eyes widened. Instinctually she reached across the table to lay her hand gently on Skye’s arm. That caused Skye to look back, first at her arm and then up at Simmons. What was she... 

“You’re one of the kindest people I’ve ever met,” she argued, “You’re here every morning without fail and you remember everyone’s names even though you don’t have to. I’ve never seen you make the wrong thing even once, and the other day you fixed my computer like it was nothing. You’re brilliant and wonderful. Why would you ever think otherwise?”

Skye stared at Simmons in shock. She hadn’t expected Simmons to go on a tirade about what a great person she was. That was the exact opposite of what she’d expected. Skye looked down at the hand on her arm. It was warm through her sleeve and she wished she’d picked something else to wear just so she could feel Simmons’ hand on her skin. Skye swallowed and tried to ignore the blush in her cheeks and the thundering in her chest. She just couldn’t believe it. Simmons actually thought she was a good person. After all the crimes she’d committed. 

“I’ve committed felonies,” she blurted out. Simmons tilted her head to the side, confused.

“You have?” she asked. Honestly it sounded absurd. Skye couldn’t be a criminal, she just couldn’t be. Sweet, dependable Skye? How could that be possible?

“I was a foster kid and I… I ran away when I was fifteen because my foster parents were abusive. I knew how to hack computers so I’d use people’s credit card information to eat and this guy found me one time, said he’d turn me in if I didn’t talk to him. Turns out he was like me and he convinced me to come with him and join his harem of computer hackers. I was young and stupid. I thought we were doing something good, stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Turns out we were just stealing from the rich to give to the rich,” Skye explained angrily. It finally clicked in Simmons’ head.

“Skye, that doesn’t make you a bad person and it doesn’t make me like you any less either,” Simmons exclaimed. Skye scrunched her face up in confusion. 

“But you just said-“ Simmons cut her off with a wave of her free hand.

“That’s not you, Skye. At Shield we go after people who actually want to do bad things. You did what you did because you had to, and because someone manipulated you. That wasn’t your fault, and it doesn’t make you a bad person,” she argued back. Skye shifted in her seat which caused her to pull her arm slightly away from Simmons’ hand. Simmons attempted to place it back in her lap but Skye grabbed a hold of it and held it firmly.

“I don’t get it,” she said honestly, “What do you do with people like me then.” Simmons smiled.

“I honestly shouldn’t be telling you this but, usually we hire them,” she said. Skye shook her head in disbelief, a small smile returning to her face.

“You do not. There is no way Shield hires criminals,” she said. Simmons shrugged. 

“Agent Romanov used to be an assassin. Now she works for Shield. There are lots of people who were forced to commit crimes that work for Shield now. When we know that the person breaking the law or creating danger are doing it out of desperation we try to help them. That’s why I joined Shield specifically. They don’t just punish the villains, they help the people they know could one day be heroes if someone gave them the chance,” she said softly.

“So that’s it then? You aren’t going to turn me in or anything?” Skye asked. Simmons gave her a clueless look. There was a mischievous twinkle in her eye

“What for?” she asked dramatically. Skye laughed and Simmons smiled happily.

“For the record, I’d probably try to help you even if you were truly evil,” Simmons added. Skye scoffed.

“Really? Would you leave the side of the Jedi to assist in my bad girl shenanigans?” Skye asked.

“Of course I would!” Simmons said, “After all what are friends for?” The second it was out of her mouth and she’d realized what she’d said she blushed. Skye watched her with a grin. 

“I like that,” she said, “Friends.” Simmons nodded stiffly. She hadn’t meant to say that, but if Skye agreed than who was she to complain.

“So if we’re friends does that mean we can-“ Skye was cut off by the bang of the back door and Miles’ loud curses. Skye and Simmons both looked toward the back and quickly pulled their hands apart. Miles came into view with a huge box. He saw them sitting there and smiled.

“Hey,” he offered, “I thought you’d be gone already.” He set the box on the counter and wiped his hands on his pants. At his comment Skye’s eyes flew to the clock. Oh shit! Her first class of the night started in less than 20 minutes! She jumped up and began collecting her books. Of course the campus was only six blocks away but if she wasn’t early she’d have to sit in the back where it was hard to hear the teacher. Simmons watched in startled silence.

“Sorry,” Skye said when she finally caught the look on her face, “My class is at six.” Simmons’ mouth formed an o and she smiled.

“Right, of course,” she said. She stood and gathered her things as well. She was disappointed that their time together had been so short, but it wouldn’t be too long before they saw each other again. Skye smiled at her and slung her backpack onto her shoulders.

“The north campus is past your place, right?” She asked. Simmons nodded.

“Just a few blocks farther,” she responded.

“All right, I’ll walk with you then,” Skye offered. Simmons refrained from bouncing up and down in thinly veiled excitement. Skye was going to walk her home. She could hardly believe it. This whole thing had been so ridiculously high school. 

Together they exited the café and headed down the sidewalk towards Fitz and Simmons’ apartment building. It was only three blocks hardly enough time to talk, but they didn’t care in the least.

“Thanks for tutoring me,” Skye said as they cross over onto the second block, “It really helped. I understand almost everything that was on the test now.” Simmons beamed at her.

“You’re a very good student honestly. I’m sure your teacher will be impressed with your improvement,” she replied. Skye smiled proudly and gripped her backpack a little tighter. They came to the apartment building too soon and Simmons stopped outside the front door.

“Well this is me,” she said softly. Skye bit her lip and looked up at the building.

“Okay, so I’ll see you in the morning?” She asked. 

“Of course,” Simmons agreed. Skye smiled. They stood there for a moment just staring at each other. Finally Skye made a decision and stepped forward to embrace Simmons in a warm hug, to which she immediately returned. Skye smelled like flour and coffee. Simmons almost couldn’t believe the perfect way they fit together. Skye was reveling in it too, the way Simmons fit perfectly into the crook of her neck. Reluctantly they pulled apart.

“I’ll see you later Simmons,” Skye said. She turned and began to walk away down the street. She was sure that if she’d stayed she would have never left. Simmons remained on the sidewalk, watching Skye walk away with an uncertain look on her face.

“Skye!” she called after her. Skye stopped and turned around. Simmons smiled.

“My first name is Jemma,” she said, “If that’s not too forward.” Skye grinned back at her.

“No, it’s not too forward,” she said with a laugh, “It’s perfect.”


	4. Chapter 4

Skye heard them before she saw them. The door to the café was open to let in the nice spring breeze that particular morning, and as such the voices of her favorite scientists floated in before they even made the block. Skye smirked from where she was kneeling behind the counter as a particularly high-pitched remark reached her ear. Fitz and Simmons were arguing.

Simmons was less amused by her situation than Skye was. Fitz had been pestering her none stop about their study date ever since she’d returned to the apartment the night before. She’d tried to tell him that nothing had happened but Fitz was absolutely not convinced. Simmons had thought about telling him about the held hands, however briefly, but she knew he’d just asked for details. It wasn’t like Simmons was about to divulge Skye’s secret past to Fitz without asking first. Sure they were best friends but that didn’t mean everyone else’s trust went out the window. Fitz had been absolutely insufferable ever since. One second he was saying she was keeping things from him and the next he was trying to give her tips on how to flirt!

“Fitz for the last time,” Simmons stressed as they walked into the café, “It was just a routine study date. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. We talked. We studied. The end.”

“If it was just routine why won’t you tell me what you talked about?” Fitz asked. He knew he was on to something. He could tell because Simmons was starting to blush. Honestly he just wanted to know how it went. It made him nervous when Simmons wouldn’t tell him something. They knew everything about each other, and that meant when something new was developing they had to talk about it. Not keeping secrets was how they were able to live and work with each other and not get on the other’s nerves. If they stopped being able to do that it could jeopardize their whole friendship. Fitz wasn’t about to let that happen.

“I don’t know. I forgot,” Simmons lied. Only she stammered and swallowed. Fitz narrowed his eyes at her and she knew that she was caught.

“Just last week you quoted an entire conversation you and Skye had nearly six months ago,” he said pointedly. Simmons ignored him and leaned on the counter. Neither of them had noticed Skye yet. With a wide smile she popped up behind the counter. Fitzsimmons looked at her in surprise. Skye pushed her bangs out of her face. 

“Hey, guys! Six months! Really? What did we talk about six months ago that was so awesome you remembered it?” she asked with a smirk. Simmons turned bright red and Skye fought the urge to jump the counter in order to hug the living hell out of her. Simmons was just so damn cute, Skye could hardly stand it.

“Cats. You like orange ones,” Fitz said. Skye made a thoughtful face. 

“I do like orange cats,” she said with a wink in Simmons’ direction. Fitz snorted because he couldn’t handle himself. Simmons felt herself die a little on the inside at the look on Skye’s face. Oh why had she fallen for this girl? Skye was unstoppable!

“Speaking of what you and Simmons talk about, how did your study date go?” Fitz asked, shooting a glare at Simmons. This time Skye laughed.

“It was great,” she said casually with a glance at Simmons, “Jemma helped me out a lot. I even understood everything that happened in class last night.” Fitz nearly high fived himself when Skye used Simmons’ first name. Success! Simmons didn’t notice his one-man party though. She was too busy beaming at Skye to see anything else.

“Skye that’s amazing!” she exclaimed happily. Skye smiled back at her shyly and then seemed to suddenly remember something. 

“You guys want your usual right?” she asked hopefully. Fitz and Simmons nodded in tandem. Skye grinned. It was time to put her plan into action. Without a word she went into the back. When she reemerged she had two coffees, one scone, and one croissant in a to-go carrier. She pushed it across the counter to FitzSimmons and quickly rang it up. Fitz smiled at the prospective of instant breakfast, but Simmons stared at the food in shock.

“Skye, did you make this ahead of time?” she asked in disbelief. Skye nodded.

“You’re in here every day, and I usually have time, so why not?” she explained. Simmons’ eyes softened and she began digging in her purse for the money she’d carefully counted out on the kitchen counter.

“You shouldn’t have,” she chastised softly, “What if we hadn’t shown up? Skye, this is too much!”

“Jemma means to say ‘thank-you Skye, you’re so wonderful,” Fitz teased as he took his coffee, “Though her sensibilities seem to be getting in the way.” Skye snorted and accepted the money from Jemma in one fell swoop. She was still looking at Skye with those big warm eyes and Skye felt herself going gooey on the inside again. The look was half fondness and half disbelief with a little dash of disapproval mixed in for good measure. Skye finished the transaction but instead of handing Jemma the receipt she flipped it over and scribbled her phone number onto the back.

“If you aren’t going to be here just text me,” she said with a soft smile, “That way I don’t make the order when I don’t have to.” Jemma felt her heart stammer to a halt. Skye was handing her a receipt with her personal number on it.

Jemma bit her lip and looked up at Skye through her eyelashes. Skye was smiling at her softly, like nothing was happening between them at all. Of course Jemma didn’t know that Skye was gripping the counter so hard her fingers were starting to ache. She wasn’t quite sure if she was trying to stop herself from falling down or floating away.

“Yoo-hoo! Ladies!” Fitz interrupted from beside them. Both Skye and Jemma jumped. Skye looked down at the register in embarrassment. Jemma turned and glared at Fitz.

“We have to be to work in five minutes, remember? The director is quality checking today and you left four frozen frog intestines in the defroster,” he reminded Jemma. Skye wrinkled her nose in disgust. Jemma gave Fitz an annoyed look. The _FITZ!!!!!_ was implied. Fitz just narrowed his eyes. The _don’t even start with me_ was implied.

“Get out of here you two,” Skye ordered in amusement. Jemma turned back to smile at her briefly. Skye felt her heart try to break out of her chest. She smiled back anyway.

“All right,” Jemma said softly. Skye knew immediately that she was referring to the phone number and not to them getting to work on time.

“All right,” Skye confirmed.

It didn’t take long before Jemma did indeed have to use Skye’s phone number. She’d held off for a week on the principle that Skye had given it to her specifically to use if they weren’t coming to the café. Obviously she didn't want to seem overbearing. Of course she’d added Skye as a contact immediately after receiving the number, which meant she spend an unorthodox amount of time just scrolling through her phone until she got to Skye’s name and then sitting there staring blankly at the screen. Fitz thought she was crazy but Jemma didn’t want to scare Skye off. The number had a purpose, and if she only used it for its purpose, nothing could go wrong.

Skye had the exact same idea. That’s why she’d given Jemma her number but hadn’t asked for one in return. Skye wanted Jemma to have the choice of calling her or not without pressure. If she had Jemma’s number there was no way she wasn’t going to use it, so the solution was obvious. If Jemma had her number she could text or call Skye whenever she wanted, and Skye couldn’t ruin anything by texting Jemma something stupid. It was foolproof, though it did lead to Skye checking her phone an increasingly absurd number of times for new texts or missed calls. Miles had never seen someone glued to a screen like Skye was to her phone the week after she gave Jemma her number. He called it “The Great Wait.”

The day before Jemma and Skye were meant to have their next study date (a week after their first, which they’d decided was the easiest time to meet) Jemma woke up with a horrible headache. She stared down at her soft cotton sheets and tried to figure out what color they were. She looked at her hands but they were blurry. She tried to sigh, but nothing would get past her stuffy nose. She looked at the clock on the table. 7:45. Aw bugger. 

“Fitz?” Jemma called out hoarsely. It must have been the bacteria they’d been working on the day before. The control was supposed to be a harmless deactivated virus but apparently someone hadn’t done their job correctly. Jemma stumbled out of bed and headed towards the kitchen. Every joint in her body ached. Her nose was running. Her throat felt like sandpaper and gelatin. Oh god why did she have to get sick?

When she finally dragged herself to the kitchen she was struck by a steely glare from the bright green fleece burrito on the couch. Fitz sniffed at her and wiped at his nose. Jemma groaned. 

“Your experiment seems to have infected us, Simmons,” Fitz said coldly.

“Yes it would seem so,” Jemma muttered. She put her forehead against the fridge and reveled in the cold feeling on her skin. She needed to text Skye.

When Skye’s phone buzzed in the middle of making Mrs. Bentley’s coffee she wondered why anyone would be trying to reach her so early in the morning. It was a slow morning, a three-day weekend for most people. She passed the coffee over the counter before swiping in her password and selecting her inbox. The message was from a number that wasn’t in her phone. All of a sudden it clicked. Jemma. Skye nearly dropped her phone in her rush to open the message.

 _~Both of us ill. Won’t be by today. A thousand apologies~_ Skye frowned. Her science babes were sick?

 _~How miserable? ~_ She typed back quickly. The reply was almost instant.

_~Miserable.~_

Skye bit her lip, the gears turning in her head. She couldn’t just let Fitz and Jemma be miserable. They only had each other, and if both of them were sick, well then who was going to take care of them? Skye knew that every time she’d gotten sick while she was alone all she’d wanted was for someone to bring her something warm and soothing. She looked up at the broad selection of teas and coffee’s at her disposal. Miles would totally cover for her for five minutes.

Ten minutes after Jemma texted Skye there was a knock on the apartment door. Jemma sighed heavily from her place on the couch next to Fitz and eased herself out of her cocoon. Who in their right mind would be by to see them this early in the morning? Was it a shield agent making sure they truly were sick and not being held hostage in their apartment? Jemma paused on her way to the door. It was odd that the scenario was plausible to her. Shield had certainly changed some things.

What she was absolutely not expecting was to open the door and find Skye. Nonetheless, there she was. Jemma stared at her in confusion for several seconds. Skye just grinned at her and held up the to-go tray she was holding. Jemma stared at it. Skye had brought them breakfast. That didn’t make any sense, why would Sky bring them breakfast? Skye raised an eyebrow at her. 

“So are you going to let me in?” she asked gently. Jemma’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in horror. Oh god Skye was at their apartment. She wasn’t even dressed or showered which was beside the point considering she also looked like death because of her stupid cold.

“Oh god I look awful,” Jemma squeaked, “Yes please come in, sorry about the mess, and… and… Fitz looking like a corpse on the couch.” The end of her sentence was punctuated with a round of coughing and a sneeze. There was an indignant whining sound from the lump on the couch that was channel surfing with one huge fleecy paw. Wow, Skye thought, they are extremely ill.

Skye stepped into the apartment anyway and headed straight for the table. Jemma followed her slowly, trying to tidy up as she went along. Skye looked back at her disapprovingly and Jemma blushed. 

“We arrived back late last night and I didn’t put things in order before bed,” she mumbled at the shoes and bags strewn across the floor. Skye set the things she’d brought on the table and quickly turned back to take care of Jemma. She was bent over trying to retrieve one of Fitz’s shoes from under a chair. As Jemma straightened up her vision blurred. Skye quickly wrapped her arm around Jemma’s waist and linked their hands in case the poor scientist fell over. 

“It’s okay, Jemma. You’re sick, you’re supposed to look like shit and let the house get messy. That’s like half the point,” Skye soothed gently, albeit with her usual flare. Jemma just blinked up at her. Skye was touching her. Skye was touching her _a lot_. She’d brought them breakfast. Skye had left work to come take care of them. 

If Jemma hadn’t already been head over heels in love with Skye, she definitely was now.

Skye swallowed and tried not to think about how hot Jemma was. She was probably running a fever in the hundreds. Not to mention Jemma looked like she was exhausted and she kept sniffling every few seconds. Jemma was just staring at her like she couldn’t exactly believe Skye was there. 

“Jemma?” Skye asked uncertainly. Jemma squinted at her.

“You’re a very lovely person,” she said softly. Skye’s eyes widened. Well okay then.

“Okay zombie, come on over here and sit with your brain twin,” she said quickly. Skye led Jemma to her abandoned pile of blankets on the couch next to Fitz and helped her bundle up again. Jemma closed her eyes almost immediately and fell asleep. Fitz had settled on watching the wheel of fortune. Skye nudged his knee with her fingers.

“What about you burrito boy, how are you feeling?” she asked softly. 

“Like death,” he answered. If anything he looked worse than Jemma did, perhaps because he wasn’t allowing himself a nap like his counterpart. Skye nodded thoughtfully. Grumpy Fitz was a Fitz she could deal with.

Skye had brought three kinds of tea in the café’s largest cup size, a medium container of honey she stole from the back room, and a loaf of the super amazing homemade bread Miles made every morning. She knew Fitz liked black tea because he ordered it once in a while when he had to work on Saturdays. Without thinking much about it she dug through the kitchen cabinets until she found spoons and mugs. Skye could feel Fitz watching her but didn’t pay it much mind. When she finally had a mug of tea and honey ready she carried it over and set it in front of him gently. Fitz stared at it in concentrated silence.

“You brought breakfast,” he said matter-of-factly. Skye laughed and brought over two slices of fresh bread and a little butter. Fitz reached for the tea and sipped at it a bit.

“Skye, I don’t know how to tell you this,” he said flatly, “but you’re my new best friend.” Skye looked at him in mock horror.

“Don’t let Simmons hear you say that,” she fake whispered. Fitz shrugged.

“Naw, Simmons isn’t my best friend… she’s more like my sister. That’s why I can hate her and love her at the same time,” he explained. Skye nodded along.

“You should wake her up and give her some too,” Fitz said after a moment, “She’d like that.” He looked over at Simmons, love and worry on his face. Skye smiled at them. Her science babes were adorable.

“Don’t worry, I’m on it,” she reassured him. Fitz gave her a curt nod as she stood to make another cup of tea, and went back to watching Wheel of Fortune.

When Skye returned with the second mug of tea and a second serving of bread, Jemma was still asleep. She set the food on the coffee table and crouched over Jemma. Skye shook her shoulder gently.

“Jemma, wake up, I brought you food. It’ll make you feel better,” Skye promised. Jemma cracked one eye opened and stared at Skye in pure misery. Skye felt her heart break. She wished she could crawl onto the couch and wrap Jemma in her arms until the poor woman was feeling better. It was a bad idea on several levels, but Skye still couldn’t help the thought flashing through her mind. Instead she reached up to run her fingers along Jemma’s hairline and push several strands of hair out of her face. 

“Hey sleepy, it’s time to eat,” she repeated. Jemma blinked quickly and sat up.  Skye had to sit back to avoid ending up with her face in Jemma’s boobs and blushed as Jemma unbundled herself just enough to bring the tea directly under her nose. She sighed happily and looked over at Skye.

“You didn’t have to do this for us,” she said quietly. Skye shrugged.

“Everyone needs someone to take care of them,” she said. Jemma sipped at her tea and hummed appreciatively. 

“You’re doing a wonderful job,” Jemma agreed. All of a sudden Skye realized how close they were. Jemma was at the edge of the couch now and Skye was only a few inches to the left on one knee next to the couch. Skye only needed to lift her hand just barely to rest it on Jemma’s knee if she wanted to.

Jemma didn’t notice Skye’s silence at first. She was busy refolding her blanket and curling into a comfortable position. Instinctually she curled into the arm of the couch, but not against the back so she could still reach the table if she wanted. When she was settled she finally realized Skye hadn’t said anything for several seconds and looked over at her. The motion brought them face to face, less than a foot a part at the very least, probably closer. Skye was just looking at Jemma with a thoughtful smile on her face. It would be so easy, Jemma thought, to just lean forward and kiss her. Skye was thinking the same thing, but was less than thrilled about taking advantage of her sick friend. This factor seemed to occur to Jemma as well and she turned away. 

“You shouldn’t stay much longer,” Jemma said softly into her mug, “I wouldn’t want you to catch what we have.” Skye nodded and stood up. 

“I have to get going anyway,” she admitted, “I was only supposed to be gone for 15 minutes.” She glanced at the clock. It’d been almost an hour. Oops. Skye hurried to grab her jacket and her bag off the table and arranged the remaining food so it was easy to manage. When she finally headed for the door she looked over her shoulder at her friends one last time 

Fitz had fallen asleep sitting up, no surprise there. Jemma was in the same place, drinking her tea slowly and watching Skye move around the apartment. Jemma had never noticed before how graceful Skye was, but it was kind of ridiculous. Skye’s heart flipped at the shameless gaze and she smiled at Jemma.

“Get better soon, okay?” she asked. Jemma smiled softly back at her.

“I’ll do my best,” she said. Skye nodded and opened the door to let herself out.

“Skye,” Jemma called after her, the thought striking her suddenly, “We’ll still meet tomorrow to study, even if I’m still sick.” Skye looked at her curiously.

“But you should rest,” she argued. Jemma shook her head. 

“You need the practice, and I can’t have you failing on my account,” she argued back. Skye shrugged and blushed. 

“All right,” she agreed. Jemma smiled again. 

“All right,” she confirmed. Skye pulled the door shut behind her and Jemma leaned back on the couch. She sighed and tried not to think about the massive headache she still had. Maybe it could work with Skye. Maybe.


	5. Chapter 5

True to her word, Jemma arrived at the café on the dot at four with not a trace of her cold in sight. She’d forced herself to sleep all morning instead of checking in on her experiments like Fitz (who spent most of his day on the phone complaining about lab techs to management) for the express purpose of keeping her promise to Skye. Skye needed the help after all, and Jemma had agreed to provide it. Finding herself incapable of going twenty-four hours without seeing Skye for more… personal reasons… didn’t exactly hinder her motivation either.

“I almost thought you’d made the smart decision and stayed in bed,” Skye said with a teasing grin when she opened the door. Jemma rolled her eyes and slipped past Skye into the café.

“I actually feel much better than I did yesterday. There is of course the standard fatigue to deal with, but the rest of our symptoms had miraculously disappeared when we woke up this morning,” Jemma explained. Skye frowned exaggeratedly.

“You’ve been better all day and you’re only just now coming to see me?” Skye asked. It was mostly a joke, but she couldn’t help the hint of honest disappointment that slipped into her voice. It’s not that she’d expected Fitzsimmons to show up that morning, but her day had been oddly empty in a way she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Seeing Jemma now, it was obvious what the problem had been. Skye had gotten into the habit of seeing them everyday for six months. A morning without Jemma and Fitz was just plain weird. Jemma seemed to catch Skye’s change in tone and smiled reassuringly.

“Oh, of course not! Fitz is refusing to leave the apartment until I get the bacteria that infected us out of the lab, and I wanted to make sure I was well enough to come tutor you,” she explained as she took a seat at their regular table. Skye’s eyes widened almost comically at the mention of bacteria as she slid into her own chair.

“You’re not telling me you got yourselves sick, right?” she asked incredulously.

“The bacteria was supposed to be scrubbed and harmless, but apparently someone in distribution didn’t do their job,” Jemma said with a shrug and a roll of her eyes. Skye gaped at her in disbelief. Jemma and Fitz really worked in a place where people were that careless? What if the bacteria had been deadly or dangerous? Skye didn’t know who the hell had screwed up in distribution but if she ever found out she was going to throw them out of a plane.

“Skye, are you all right?” Jemma asked carefully. Skye shook her head to clear her mind and nodded. 

“Definitely, I just… do you always work with people who are that careless?” she asked. 

“Oh, no! Things have been chaotic lately but it’s the first time anything like that has happened,” Jemma reassured her quickly, “Besides, it wasn’t so bad. We had you to take care of us didn’t we?” Skye blushed at the obvious compliment as Jemma smiled at her.

“It really wasn’t that big of a deal,” Skye mumbled. 

“It was perfect,” Jemma said softly. Skye shrugged and smiled softly back. Jemma stayed quiet for another moment or two, just watching Skye. It’d be so easy just to lean across the table and… no. She couldn’t do it. What if she was still contagious? Worse, what if she’d misread the signs completely? Skye was so important to both Jemma and Fitz now, she couldn’t jeopardize that for a silly crush. 

Across the table from her Skye unconsciously licked her lips. Her brain was replaying that moment by the couch over again and again. Jemma had turned away from her. She probably hadn’t wanted to get Skye sick, but maybe that had just been an excuse to cut the moment short. It wasn’t like Skye could ask her. On the list of awkward questions that one took the cake and several other baked goods. Skye would just have to wait and see if Jemma made a move. It was the only way.

“Well, let’s get started shall we?” Jemma asked finally. Skye nodded absentmindedly and pulled her books out. Just like that, the moment was gone. 

They ended up studying for Skye’s final, which was only two weeks away and already terrifying as hell. It took them an hour to cover the last few chapters, which left only half an hour to review the rest. By the time they were done Skye felt like her brain had turned to soup and would soon be dripping out her nose.

“I have no idea how you keep all of this in your head,” she complained as she and Jemma packed up their things. Jemma laughed.

“Practice, Skye, practice,” she reminded her. Skye groaned.

They headed out together like they always did but at the sidewalk Jemma turned right instead of left. Skye did a double-take.

“You’re not going home?” she asked. Jemma shook her head.

“I’ve just missed two days of work,” she admitted sheepishly, “I need to check on my experiments.” Skye laughed.

“Seriously? Going in after hours?” she teased. Jemma shrugged.

“Not exactly. Fitz and I usually eat in the cafeteria or downtown somewhere for dinner, then return to work for a few hours before coming home. It’s our usual routine actually,” she said. Skye’s jaw dropped in shock.  
“Do you ever like, skip a night and go do something fun? Or is it just all work and no play with you two?” she asked, half teasing, half curious.

“Not recently with all of our new responsibilities but I’ll have you know we used to go out when we were at the academy all the time!” Jemma shot back. Skye looked at her in surprise. She hadn’t pegged the two of them to be the type that liked to party. Miles didn’t like to go out at all. Skye hadn’t been downtown for a good drink and a dance in almost a year because of his lazy ass. Suddenly, Skye got the very best idea.

“Well in that case, we should all go out for drinks or something,” Skye said, “Seriously I bet you haven’t been out in forever!” And of course there was no one she’d rather go with. After all FitzSimmons were like her first real friends ever. Maybe she’d even get to spend some time with just Jemma, no chemistry or work hanging over their heads, just good old fashioned get to know each other time. Jemma’s eyes went wide at the suggestion. Going out to a bar or something with Skye (and Fitz but honestly two shots and he was dealt with) would be like a dream come true. Of course Skye probably didn’t intend for it to be a date, but any time spent with Skye was time well spent in Jemma’s opinion.

“Well certainly. That sounds lovely,” Jemma agreed almost immediately. Skye beamed at her. She practically started dancing in the spot. Jemma had actually said yes!

“How does Friday sound? We can just wander around on 5th until we find something suitable,” Skye suggested. After all, every other business on 5th was a bar. Jemma chuckled at Skye’s enthusiasm and nodded along. Friday was only two days away. Perfect.

“I honestly don’t care where we go,” she said, “I’ll ask Fitz tonight. I doubt he’d turn you down. He’s been pacing our apartment like a leashed dog for weeks talking about a vacation or a night on the town.” Skye laughed at the image and gave Jemma an energetic salute.

“I’ll find us something, don’t worry,” she said. 

“Well all right then,” Jemma sighed, “I’ll see you in the morning?”

“Definitely,” Skye promised. She turned to walk towards school, a slight skip in her step at the prospect of Friday night. Jemma bit her lip and started on her way to work. Skye was just the cutest thing, wasn’t she? Skye was having almost the exact same thought about Jemma when she stopped short. She turned and bounded back down the sidewalk. 

“Wait!” Skye called. Jemma turned and squeaked in surprise as Skye barreled into her. Instinctively her arms went around Skye’s abdomen to keep them from falling. Skye wrapped her arms around Jemma’s neck and hugged her tightly. She’d almost forgotten. 

“Thank you for the tutoring,” Skye said softly. Jemma smiled for the thousandth time.

“You’re welcome,” she replied. Skye extracted herself gently from Jemma’s arms and back away a few steps before waving a hasty goodbye and departing. Jemma watched her go for a bit before starting on her own trek to work. They both knew that they’d see each other in less than fifteen hours, but it already felt like a lifetime.

Thursday went by without a hitch. Fitz agreed to the little outing and even googled a few places while they were in the lab to check on the illegal activity in the area before hand. That was one benefit to being a shield scientist; access to secret files concerning the more mundane criminals of the world. Skye laughed when they told her of their findings on Friday morning. Of course, she thought to herself as she handed over their coffee and shared a smile with Jemma, what did I think was going to be happen?

The only issue it seemed was that if Thursday raised no issues, Friday would raise all of them. It wasn’t even lunch time when Fitz was called into the coordinating office and told that a high-ranking group of shield operatives were coming by sometime in the evening to watch a demonstration on the newest engineering developments. As the most knowledgeable engineer in the department, he’d been chosen to manage the demonstration. There was something about his ability to outsmart any other rebellious engineer in the department that made him perfect for the leadership positions. The demonstration inevitably had no set time, so Fitz was stuck at the lab until some undisclosed late hour.

Which meant he wouldn’t be joining the ladies for drinks.

When Skye got Jemma’s text that Fitz couldn’t make it she felt her stomach belly flop into her intestines. Without Fitz the outing could technically classify as a date, technically, if Jemma wanted it to of course, not just because but… well you know. The thought sent chills up and down Skye’s spine. She was nervous and excited all at once, which felt suspiciously like the half hour right before you throw up. For the rest of the day all Skye could think about were all the things that could possibly happen to make Jemma realize she was the girl of her dreams. Maybe ninjas would attack them in an alley. Maybe she’d have to save her from a fire, or a slow song would come on while they were dancing and it just happened. Despite her theories and fantasies, Skye never thought in a million years that their night would end like it did.

Jemma did not exactly share Skye’s optimism. It’d been a long time since she’d been anywhere near a bar and she was sure that if the opportunity presented itself she’d blunder in some unimaginable way that revealed what an awkward person she was and Skye would never speak to her again. Now logically, this would never happen, but everyone knows that seven fifty-five in front of the mirror is not a logical time. Jemma didn’t even have Fitz standing in the doorway to her bedroom to console her through her minefield of anxiety. No, she’d have to go it alone.

Skye knocked on the door at 8:03 and swayed from side to side in her modest heels as she waited for Jemma to answer the door. She’d worn a bright pink dress she’d bought specifically with her first legitimate paycheck as a sort of “fuck you I made it” to everyone who had ever stood in her way. Bonus, it looked awesome on her. Skye was sure it was classy enough to fit whatever Jemma wore (and she would be wearing something classy obviously) and sexy enough to give the right impression at the same time. She hadn’t wanted to wear something too revealing, though. She wanted to gently suggest to Jemma that she was a romantic option, not shove it in her face.

Jemma fixed her hair three times in the hallway mirror before she went to the door. With her hand on the doorknob she took a deep breath and looked down at the stylish green and silver dress she picked for the evening. She hoped one last time that it wasn’t too much, and opened the door. Her jaw dropped at the sight of Skye standing there all dressed up. Before she could even process what was happening Skye smiled at her brightly and stepped in for a hug.

“Aw look at you!” Skye exclaimed, “You look amazing!” Jemma accepted the hug happily and stepped back to admire Skye a bit more. All the nervousness she’d felt before vanished from her mind. It was ridiculous how at ease she felt with Skye in the room. Fitz would have called it a miracle.

“Says the girl in the stunning dress,” Jemma said in awe. Skye blushed and offered Jemma her arm. She was practically bursting at the seams with excitement. The hours leading up to this moment couldn’t even compare to what she was feeling now. It was like she had just run a marathon, except without being exhausted at the end. Every part of her was buzzing with energy for the night ahead.

“You ready?” she asked. Jemma nodded and reached into the hall closet to grab her coat and purse.

“Let’s,” she said simply, looping her arm through Skye’s and tugging her out of the apartment. 

“So I found this place on the east bank, right off 5th…” Skye began to explain.

The club was called Paradise and despite it’s proximity to campus, the atmosphere inside was rather relaxed. The design was modern, with all white walls and cycling lights that lit the air with neon pastels at slow intervals. The DJ was playing the ever-popular nostalgia mix and the people on the dance floor were loving it. Skye nearly laughed out loud as one guy performed every single dance from the nineties in less than thirty seconds. They hadn’t even made it to the bar and they were already seeing weird shit.

Jemma kept a hold of Skye’s arm until they were safely sitting beside each other at the counter. The club wasn’t packed, but there was enough of a crowd to get lost in if you weren’t careful. Her nerves had come cascading back in seconds.

“So what do you think?” Skye asked as the bartender prepared their first round.

“I think it’s perfect,” Jemma replied excitedly. She’d been a little worried Skye would pick a place with a younger crowd and they’d be stuck in a rowdy mob for most of the night. This was much more her speed. Skye grinned at her and happily accepted the drinks from the bartender. She’d hoped Jemma would like it. The reviews online had said it was a classier place with less of the general insanity associated with the club scene. 

“I never would have thought you were a beer drinker,” Skye commented at their practically matching bottles. Jemma shrugged and took a sip.

“When we were at academy it was the easiest thing to smuggle in. Besides, sixteen year olds don’t yet have any tolerance to alcohol built up. Two or three of these and everyone thought they were wasted. They had no idea,” she explained. Skye laughed and took a long swig. Damn it felt good to be out.

“I feel like there’s an interesting story behind that,” Skye prompted. She wanted to hear more about Jemma’s shield academy adventures. Jemma’s eyes widened and she shook her head.

“Oh no, I couldn’t. He’d KILL me,” she exclaimed. Skye snorted.

“Who Fitz? Wait, what did he do?” she asked out of morbid curiosity. Jemma put her hand over her mouth and shook her head before finally sighing and setting her beer back on the counter.

“He assaulted an upper classman while he was trying to seduce this girl from his upper division logistics class,” she explained in embarrassment. Fitz was going to absolutely kill her for telling Skye, but Jemma didn’t have the willpower to say no to those big brown eyes. Skye practically spit her beer out and started laughing so hard two guys at the table behind them turned around. Jemma blushed furiously.

“No, you’re joking! Like on purpose?” Skye asked in disbelief. Jemma laughed and shook her head.

“He had a few drinks and just started acting completely wasted,” she said, “And he was out on the floor dancing and just looking ridiculous. This upper classman comes up behind him to ask if he can cut in and he just… hit him in the face completely on accident. We took him back to the dorms and tested him. He was only at a .03!” By the time Jemma had finished Skye was practically crying with laughter.

“Oh my god, that is the best thing I’ve ever heard,” she wheezed, “Poor Fitz!” Jemma put her head in her hands and nodded. It had been so awful. Fitz hadn’t looked anyone in the eye for weeks. Skye finally managed to take a deep breath and looked over at Jemma. She’d turned to look out at the dance floor again, just admiring the people there. Skye watched her quietly, a slow smile spreading across her face. Jemma looked so at ease and calm with a drink her hand and her mind free to wander. Her brow creased slightly as she caught sight of something. Across the club a man with striking cheekbones and gelled hair was staring at them.

“Skye, do you know that man?” Jemma asked quietly. Skye snapped out of her staring contest with Jemma’s lips and looked to where Jemma was gesturing. Oh shit. Without a second thought Skye spun to face the bar and dropped her head. He couldn’t be here. It was impossible. Jemma looked at Skye in alarm.

“Skye what is it?” she asked worriedly. Skye shook her head and downed the rest of her drink. Without even pausing she dropped a wad of cash on the counter and pulled Jemma to her feet.

“We’ve got to go,” Skye muttered. Jemma frowned and set her own drink down. Knowing Skye’s past, it was better to just go with it until they could properly discuss what was happening. She gathered her things and took Skye’s hand. Skye smiled at her briefly and turned to lead the way back to the door. They didn’t get far though. In their haste to leave the man had walked around the club to where they were sitting. He stood there smugly in between them and the door, two good-sized body guards on either side of him. 

“Long time no see, Skye,” he said nonchalantly. Jemma felt Skye tense and squeezed her hand reassuringly. Skye shot her a look over her shoulder, scared and defiant at the same time. 

“Yeah, nearly a year,” she said flatly. The guy smirked and looked over at Jemma. 

“Who’s this?” he asked. Skye grimaced. How the hell was she supposed to get them out of this?

“Jemma Simmons,” came the curt reply. Jemma stepped in line with Skye and squinted at the man, “And you are?” 

“Grant Ward, Skye’s old boss,” the man said. Jemma’s eyes widened ever so slightly and she looked at Skye. Skye felt like she was about to be sick. The only thing keeping her from bolting out the back was Jemma’s hand in hers. She hadn’t thought the universe hated her this much, but obviously Skye was the great beyond’s least favorite person. Jemma looked back at Ward, her face cold.  
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said. Ward grinned at her.

“All good things I hope,” he flirted. Jemma narrowed her eyes.

“Not particularly,” she replied. Ward’s face hardened for a split second before he was back to his charming, fake self. 

“Well if you could excuse us, Skye and I need to have a little chat,” he explained. Skye scoffed.

“We have nothing to talk about and you know it. I’m not working for you again,” she snapped. Ward put his hands up defensively.

“Come on Skye, just five minutes. I’d hate it if I had to talk you into it,” he said. The man on his left cracked his knuckles threateningly. Jemma pursed her lips and reached into her purse.

“I have a far better idea. You leave this second, and I don’t call my superior officers with a hunch that a known felon is hanging around a certain civilian,” she said politely, shield badge in hand. Skye smirked at the sudden look of surprise on Ward’s face. 

“I hang around in a different crowd now,” she explained to him condescendingly, “Nasty jerks just aren’t my thing anymore.” Ward snarled but Jemma just smiled at him.

“I hope the three of you have a lovely night,” she said as she and Skye brushed by him and headed for the door.

“This isn’t over,” he called after them angrily. Something in Jemma snapped. What part of no did this imbecile not understand? She stopped and whirled around, her free hand curling into a fist. Skye squeaked at the action. 

“If you come anywhere near my girlfriend ever again, I will personally castrate you and use your anatomy for whatever measly experiment I can come up with,” she snapped at him. She hadn’t really meant to say it. It’d just come out. Jemma froze as the realization dawned on her. Oh goodness what had she done?

Skye just stared at Jemma in shock for several seconds trying to process what had just happened. Somewhere along the way her survival instincts kicked in and she managed to drag Jemma out of the club behind her. Her heart was racing, adrenaline coursing through her system. Once they were out on the sidewalk Skye dropped Jemma’s hand and leaned against the side of the building. Jemma just stood there, shock still plain on her face as she tried to understand what had just happened. Skye felt suddenly free, having survived her worst nightmare, and began to laugh. 

“Wow that was…” Skye trailed off, grinning at Jemma, “You were amazing back there.” Jemma shrugged lamely.

“Well, I wasn’t about to stand by and watch that awful man take advantage of you again,” she muttered. She kept her eyes down at the ground, cheeks burning. Maybe Skye wouldn’t bring it up. Maybe they’d just never talk about it, and Jemma would have her answer. Skye bit her lip and reached out for Jemma’s hands, holding them gently in her own.

“Hey, did you… mean what you said in there?” Skye asked carefully. Jemma frowned slightly and rubbed her thumbs across Skye’s hands absentmindedly.

“You don’t have to do this, it’s… it’s not-” 

“Jemma,” Skye interrupted, “It’s just a question.” Only maybe not. Every fiber of her being was aching for a “yes” and she could barely breathe through the tension in the air. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Jemma either, so she just waited for an answer that could break her and didn’t say a word. Finally Jemma looked up and stared into Skye’s eyes. She couldn’t believe she was about to do this.

“With all of my heart,” she said softly. Skye made a small, relieved sound in the back of her throat and tugged Jemma’s arms around her waist. The motion caused Jemma to step forward until they were chest to chest. Skye looked down at Jemma in awe. Her pupils were blown and Skye’s probably looked the same. God, they’d been so stupid hadn’t they? She could have asked ages ago. Why had she ever thought Jemma didn’t like her back? In one fluid motion Skye was threading her fingers through Jemma’s hair and guiding their mouths together.

They kissed gently at first, cautiously, like it was the most fragile thing in the world. Skye had never felt anything as soft as Jemma’s lips. Hell, she’d never felt anything as soft as Jemma in general. With a groan Skye pulled her even closer and kissed her harder. Jemma hummed softly and tightened her arms around Skye. Nothing had ever felt so perfect as this. Skye, with her body heat and rounded edges, was exactly what Jemma needed. The cold night air just made them sink into each other farther, hot breath mingling together. Skye pulled back after a few minutes and dragged in a long shaky breath. Her eyes were still closed, fingers still curled against Jemma’s scalp.

“Girlfriends,” she whispered. Yeah, that could work. 

That could work really good.


	6. Chapter 6

The first week of their actual honest-to-Thor romantic relationship, Skye probably could have grown a unicorn horn in the middle of her forehead and not noticed. All she could think about was Jemma; in the morning getting up, at lunch when they texted each other, in the evening when they talked on the phone or had dinner together, right before she fell asleep, it really didn’t matter. Everything she thought or did, in some way, made her think of Jemma. 

Skye was obsessed, which she could admit was not exactly new to her. Being obsessive about things was a quality she liked about herself. The only issue was that being obsessive in a relationship could get a little weird if a person wasn’t careful about it. Which is just to say it was a good thing Jemma was just as obsessed, if what Fitz had told her was true (and she hoped it was since it sounded cute as shit). Honestly the two of them were a hot mess about each other, and it was driving everyone else a little insane. 

Fitz was especially keen to make gagging noises in the morning when they arrived at the café and Skye pulled Jemma across the counter by her tie for a good morning kiss. They let it go on a little longer than necessary just to mess with him. It’s not like he’d ever notice anyway. Incidentally they also might have forgotten on occasion that they were messing with Fitz and kissed for even longer because, well, kissing was nice. Of course, they’d never admit to that.

“Honestly you two!” Fitz exclaimed after a particularly prolonged hello, “That’s extremely unsanitary.” Jemma sighed and rolled her eyes as Skye pulled away with a soft laugh.

“No one cooks anything up here, Fitz,” she reminded him. He huffed anyway. 

“He’s just upset because he’s hungry,” Jemma reassured her. Fitz groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Yes of course, dear old Fitz always thinking of his stomach. My current mood has nothing to do with that excessive and disgusting display of affection,” he chastised. Skye winked at Fitz and retrieved their breakfast from the kitchen. When her back was turned Jemma glared at Fitz pointedly. Technically he had a point, but honestly did he have to be so loud about it. People were going to start staring at them or something. Fitz just raised his hands defensively. He wasn’t just going to stand by and let them be late because Jemma wanted to spend time with Skye. It wasn’t like being in a relationship freed you of all responsibility, after all.

Skye laughed at the stubborn looks on their faces when she returned. The cup holder in her hand had an extra scone on it, which Fitz happily accepted. Jemma gave Skye a knowing look and she shrugged. Fitz didn’t deserve the sappy romantic stuff they put him through and they both knew it. Jemma handed over the exact change for their breakfast and watched Skye intently as she worked the register. She always looked so focused while she was working. Her brow furrowed just a bit and once in a while she’d mouth words along with her quick jabbing at the keys on the register. Jemma couldn’t help but stare.

When Skye was finished she looked up at Jemma with a smile. The adoring look on her girlfriend’s face caught her off guard for a moment, but then she smiled the cheesiest smile she could muster.

“We’re still studying this afternoon, right?” she asked.

“Yes, we’ve only got two chapters left to review and then you should be all set for your final next week,” Jemma agreed enthusiastically. Fitz rolled his eyes.

“Oh please, like you spend any time studying anymore,” he muttered.

“Fitz!” Jemma exclaimed. Skye scoffed. 

“You know he’s right. I’ll do _anything_ to get out of studying,” she joked. Fitz looked like he was going to be sick, but Jemma just laughed and swatted at her with her free hand. 

“You better not,” she flirted back, “Or I’ll have to give you detention.” Skye’s eyes widened in overly dramatic horror.

“You wouldn’t!” she hissed.

“Wouldn’t I?’ Jemma whispered back, raising one eyebrow to further make her point. The door to the kitchen slammed open.

“Aw man, that cute shit is absolutely putrid,” Miles groaned as he came in with two new boxes of supplies. Jemma and Skye collapsed in a fit of giggles. Somehow their hands had found each other, though lately it had been happening more often than not. 

“It also looks suspiciously like not working,” Miles continued with a pointed look at Skye.

“Yes, Jemma, we’re going to be late!” Fitz chimed in.

“See?” Miles implored, “You’re even creeping out the tiny Scottish one.” Fitz gestured forcefully at Miles with his free hand.

“At least someone cares about my sanity,” he exclaimed. Jemma sighed heavily.

“All right, all right, we’ll go,” she said. Skye pouted and received one last kiss for her efforts. She still couldn’t get over the feeling of Jemma’s lips on her own. It was like for that tiny moment everything was just perfect, which was something she’d never had before in any capacity.

“I’ll see you this afternoon,” Jemma told her softly as they separated. Even a small kiss stole her breath away.

“Yeah, see ya,” Skye returned in a slightly dazed voice. She watched as Fitz practically dragged Jemma out the door and down the sidewalk. It occurred to her suddenly that if she hadn’t ever made it to the Corner Café, she never would have met Jemma. Skye smiled. Man, she really loved her job.

At least she really loved her job when it wasn’t screwing her over, which happened every so often whenever she was looking forward to something like the new episode of Orphan Black or waiting for Jemma to waltz in for their afternoon tutoring session. Apparently someone had called in a catering order for fifty people, to be delivered (you guessed it) the next morning at 8 am to the Shield administrative building down the street. Miles already had two orders for sandwiches and coffee to take across town in different directions, so that left Skye in charge of making the dozens of pastries they now required.

Skye thought it was stupid that Miles would take such a huge order so late in the day instead of just laughing and hanging up on whoever had called to make it. Usually he only accepted catering orders three days in advance, longer if it was convention season. This time he’d just grumbled something about a life time of favors and shoved the card with the order scribbled onto it into her hand. Two hours later and Skye was still rolling out dough, with no end in sight.

She didn’t even notice when four o’clock came and went, she was so intent on releasing her frustrations into a batch of croissants. 

Jemma’s day had been hectic, what with so many different appointments and new people, but the meetings themselves had been a breeze. She figured it must be standard protocol for new level six scientists to meet with various departments and personnel. The jump from five to six had seemed a lot bigger than their other promotions. They were working in a new lab all their own, involved with the work of teams in the field, and privy to all sorts of classified information they hadn’t even glimpsed before. Jemma thought it was exciting, but Fitz just huffed and whined about bureaucracy cutting into his work time.

The last meeting didn’t adjourn until 3:45. The man she was going to meet, some agent named Triplett, had been late because his boss decided to extend an assignment at the last moment. Jemma cursed both of them as she hurried down the street towards the café. She and Skye only had so much time together before Skye’s class started. The last month, she’d been showing up earlier than four so they could get studying out of the way and move on to more enjoyable activities. Skye was no doubt wondering where she was, and Jemma felt horrible for making her wait. She’d texted Skye when she left but hadn’t received anything in reply. That in itself was worrisome; Skye always texted back.

When she arrived at the café at two minutes after four, the open sign was still out and the door was still unlocked. There was no one inside, but the radio in the back was on. It usually was, if someone was around. Jemma stepped inside cautiously and craned her neck to see if Skye was behind the counter.

“Skye?” she called out. There was no response. Jemma walked behind the counter and poked her head into the kitchen, sighing in relief when she spotted Skye loading up one of the mixers. She waited until Skye was done before stepping farther into the kitchen. She didn’t particularly want to startle Skye while she was keeping track of measurements. Skye turned on the mixer and wiped her hands on her pants. She was just bending over to get more flour when she spotted Jemma standing in the doorway. She quickly glanced up at the clock and muttered something inappropriate under her breath. How had time gone by so fast?

“Hey Jems, sorry, let me just lock up,” she said, rushing by Jemma with the keys to officially close the café for the day. Jemma watched with a small smile on her face.  When she was finished, Skye rushed back into the kitchen to turn the mixer off and put the fresh dough into the fridge. 

“Is everything all right?” Jemma asked. Skye huffed in annoyance and checked the oven again.

“We got a huge order last minute. I’m only half done and it needs to be ready for morning. Miles will do the delicate pastries tomorrow but the coffee cake and the scones can be made tonight and wrapped so they stay fresh. I also have to make the usual things we have in the case in the morning,” Skye looked at Jemma guiltily, “I’m sorry but I don’t think I’m going to have time to study tonight.” Jemma frowned. These afternoons were practically sacred, they couldn’t just skip one.

“I could still keep you company couldn’t I?” she asked, “At least until you go off to your classes?” Skye bit her lip. The order was going to take at least three more hours and her class started in two.

“I probably won’t go, actually,” she said, “This is going to take a while.” Jemma looked at Skye in shock.

“You can’t skip!” she exclaimed, “You’re almost finished!” Skye cringed at Jemma’s horrified tone.

“I know but this really needs to get done,” she explained. Jemma pursed her lips and looked around the kitchen. There had to be a way to… that’s it! Jemma grinned.

“What if I help you?” she asked excitedly. Skye took a moment to look at Jemma like she might be growing a second head. 

“Uh, I guess you could if you wanted to…” she said, “Wait do you actually want to?” Jemma snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Skye, don’t you know what I do all day?” she asked with a laugh, “I mix things!” Skye grinned and stepped over to give Jemma a thank-you kiss, careful not to touch her with her own flour and egg covered hands. How had she gotten so lucky?

The work went a lot faster with two of them. It didn’t exactly go as fast as it could have gone, considering how many times one of them kissed the other without warning them first. A few bowls got dropped, a few pastries squished, but they were still making great time. If they hurried, Skye could still make it to her class with a second or two to spare. Like she implied, Jemma was an amazing baker. After all, baking is just chemistry with edible things. Skye teased Jemma endlessly about being a perfectionist when she worked meticulously to roll the croissants perfectly even. Jemma just smiled and made the prettiest croissants Skye had ever seen.

“Makes sense, considering you’re the prettiest girl,” Skye muttered as she inspected Jemma’s tray. Jemma pretended she wasn’t blushing and pulled Skye in for another kiss.

They got the last tray of pastries in the oven with forty-five minutes to spare. Skye sighed in relief and took a moment to just relax. Jemma was still at the counter collecting the leftover scraps of dough into a bowl. There was flour in her hair, which was starting to stray from its ponytail. Skye let her eyes wander down Jemma’s back to her ass. She was wearing her dark jeans, the ones that fit her perfectly. Skye really liked them, and Jemma knew that. They looked awfully plain though. The pockets didn’t even have anything embroidered on them. Skye looked down at her hands with a wicked grin. They were still coated in flour.

Jemma thought it was odd Skye was being so quiet, but she had been rather subdued earlier as well. It was probably just stress making her anxious and quiet, because that’s what happened when Skye was anxious after all. Never in a million years did she expect to suddenly feel hands on her ass. Jemma shrieked and spun around. Skye was practically doubled over on the floor laughing.

“What was that?” Jemma squeaked, trying and failing to get angry at Skye. Skye raised her hands in a shrug. It took a moment for Jemma to process and then her eyes widened.

“You didn’t!” she exclaimed, trying to twist around to see the back of her pants. Skye only laughed harder. Two white hand prints stood out plainly on Jemma’s ass. Jemma looked around for something to get her revenge.

When Skye finally stopped laughing she looked up to find Jemma leaning against the counter with a not so pleased look on her face. She wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up, wiping the rest of the flour off in the process.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. Forgive me?” she asked. Jemma sighed and held out her arms. Skye happily stepped into them for a hug and a kiss. Only after the first was a second kiss, and a third. Jemma’s hands drifted from her back to her ribs to her hips. Skye’s arms wound around Jemma’s neck and held her close. Jemma pulled back to readjust slightly and then her finger tips were sliding along Skye’s stomach and up until she cupped Skye’s breasts in her hands. Skye groaned and pressed forward slightly until Jemma started giggling against her mouth. She pulled back to give Jemma a questioning look. Jemma just raised her hands, covered in flour. 

Skye looked down at her shirt and burst out laughing.

“Oh my god, I cannot believe you did that,” she squealed. Jemma just laughed and reached behind her for more flour. Skye looked at her with an evil glint in her eye.

“Oh, I see how it is,” she hissed. Jemma shrugged and rubbed flour all over Skye’s stomach. Skye gaped at her and reached for her own ammo. Within seconds they were chasing each other around the kitchen with handfuls of flour. Skye got quite a lot of it down the back of Jemma’s shirt. Jemma aimed for Skye’s hair, knowing the curls would keep even more flour from falling to the ground. A lot of the flour missed and ended up on the floor, but that wasn’t a problem until Jemma reached beyond her center of gravity for the back of Skye’s pants. She slipped on the flour under her shoes, and both of them went tumbling to the ground.

Jemma didn’t exactly land on Skye but she did find herself quickly snuggled into Skye’s chest nonetheless. Neither of them could stop giggling. If one of them stopped the other set them off again. Jemma leaned her forehead against Skye’s and tried to catch her breath. Skye absentmindedly wiped a smudge of flour off of Jemma’s cheek. Jemma sighed and nuzzled into Skye’s hand, kissing her palm and her wrist. Skye tugged Jemma down and kissed her soundly. Her hands quickly left Jemma’s face, sliding down to fit perfectly over the still visible handprints on Jemma’s jeans. Jemma groaned and relaxed even further into Skye.

The oven alarm blared loudly to alert them that the pastries were done. Jemma sat up quickly, flushed, lips bruised, and began to straighten out her hair. Skye scrambled up to turn the oven off, her shirt twisted up above her hips, eyes wide. The kitchen was a mess. Skye glanced at the clock, twenty minutes. Jemma finished straightening herself out and looked around the kitchen guiltily. What should she do now?

“I still need to finish kitchen lock down stuff,” Skye offered, “So it would be totally helpful if you swept.” Jemma smiled. Skye always knew exactly what she needed. Skye grinned sheepishly and got to work. She emptied out all the trashcans into one bin, wiped the counters lightning fast, and put the cash away. Jemma was nearly finished sweeping when Skye came back into the kitchen. The only thing left to do was take the trash bin out to the dumpster.

The dumpster was out back in the alley that separated the café from the Italian place next door. Skye rolled the bin out the back and opened the dumpster. They always had to put the bags in one at a time because the afternoon rush left them so heavy. Skye heaved the first two over the edge and went back for the third.

“Well, well, look at you. You even have a job and everything.”

Skye froze. Very slowly she looked up. Ward was leaning against the alley wall, just smirking at her like he always did. Skye felt bile rise up in the back of her throat. How had he found her? 

“Get out of here,” she growled at him. Ward gasped as if he was offended.

“Is that any way to treat an old friend?” he asked. Skye snorted angrily. 

“We aren’t friends, and if you don’t get out of here I’ll call the cops on you,” she spat back. Ward nodded thoughtfully.

“That’s right, you have that heroic girlfriend now don’t you?” he said. Skye glared at him. How dare he bring her into this!

“What do you want, Ward?” she asked forcefully. Ward shrugged and crossed his arms loosely across his chest. 

“I just need someone for a job. Someone good. Not any of that internet café crap. We need you, Skye,” he explained sincerely.

“I’m not doing a job for you,” Skye said in disgust, “I’m never doing that again. I have a life now, Ward!” Ward smirked and licked his lips.

“Yeah, I know,” he said, “Your perfect little life. I bet you don’t even stay up past your bedtime, but you know what? People like us aren’t meant for this kind of life. It’s not going to work out for you Skye. They’re going to find out what kind of person you really are one day, and then you’ll be just as alone as the day I took you off the streets.” Skye forced herself not to scream, or murder him, or cry. Honestly there was a high chance she was going to do all three. Instead she slammed the dumpster closed. 

“Go to hell, Ward,” she hissed.

Jemma was waiting at the front counter when Skye came back in, absorbed in an email on her phone. She heard the door close and turned around to greet Skye, only to come face to face with the fakest smile she had ever seen. Skye brushed past Jemma to retrieve her bag and held out a hand as she slung it over her shoulder. 

“Ready?” she asked in a strained voice.

“Skye, are you all right?” Jemma asked, suspicion creeping into her voice. Skye blinked at her.

“Of course! Come on I want to have time to kiss you on your front steps,” she urged. Jemma sighed. She supposed she’d have to take Skye’s word for it. Jemma took Skye’s hand and allowed herself to be led out the door and down the sidewalk. Skye was unusually quiet on the walk, and her grip was awfully tight. Jemma regarded her carefully. There was something wrong, but she couldn’t figure out what.


	7. Chapter 7

“It was just so strange, Fitz!” Jemma exclaimed as she peered into her microscope. Fitz squinted at his circuit board skeptically. Jemma had been going on about Skye and the previous afternoon for nearly two hours. As far as he could tell Skye had acted strangely for perhaps ten minutes at the end of a long and stressful day. It didn’t sound that suspicious, not when it was coupled by the intense emotions Skye had been experiencing lately. The switch from high levels of activity to a moment alone most likely caused her adrenaline rush to crash, but Jemma was absolutely certain that something awful had happened in the five minutes Skye had been out of her sight.

“Strange doesn’t always mean disaster,” Fitz reminded Jemma gently. Jemma sighed and prepared her next slide. Fitz didn’t understand how drastic the change had been. Skye hadn’t just looked tired, she looked… haunted, almost. Jemma knew deep down that something terrible had happened, but she couldn’t put a finger on what. Skye had been gone for less than five minutes, and she’d only gone into the alley, a place she had to go several times a day. There was some variable they weren’t seeing, something that had been added to the equation without their knowledge.

“It wasn’t just strange Fitz,” Jemma worried quietly, “It was… unsettling. The way she walked, the way she smiled; something was different about it. I’ve never seen her like this before.” Fitz straightened up and looked over at Jemma. She was scowling down at her microscope like it’d done her some horrible wrong. Jemma didn’t like being in the dark about things, especially if it concerned someone she loved. Fitz could definitely relate. There was a reason the two of them didn’t do well when they were separated.

“I’m sure she’s all right,” Fitz reassured her gently, “She seemed fine this morning. I’m sure she’ll let us know if it was important” Jemma sighed heavily. Yes, Skye had greeted them with her usual enthusiasm that morning, but Jemma couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever had upset her the day before was going to do it again. Even when Skye was happy, Jemma could see the glimpses of fear that passed over her eyes every once in a while. She just wished Skye would tell her why she’d been upset. Then they could find a solution and put the whole thing behind them.

There was a swoosh as the glass doors to the lab slid open. Fitzsimmons looked up in surprise. They hadn’t been expecting anyone, but that didn’t mean that the director of science and research wasn’t standing in the door observing them calmly. She was a nice woman, though they’d only met her once. The director smiled proudly at them. 

“You’re needed in conference room B,” she informed them. Jemma and Fitz looked at each other. What could possibly be going on that they were needed for? 

When they arrived, six other scientists were already seated around the table. Fitzsimmons sat down at the end and looked at each other silently. Something big was happening. They didn’t call scientists together unless a new research project was starting or there was an emergency. Jemma’s heartbeat increased exponentially at the thought of being chosen for a level five research team. Jemma had seen some of the files from a level five facility before their promotion, and even with the key words blacked out she’d understood enough to give her goose bumps. Fitz had taken one look at the gadgets coming out of higher-level facilities and asked Jemma to remove his kidney so they could sell it for bribe money. The research was just that good. 

They didn’t recognize any of the other scientists. The three at the front seemed to know each other and were bickering about something or other. The two on the left kept nudging at each other and subtly gesturing to the others. The lone woman left on the right had her eyes glued to her phone. Jemma folded her hands neatly in her lap and adjusted her posture. The atmosphere in the room was extremely hostile for some reason. She had a feeling the others knew why they were here, even if she and Fitz did not. That put them at a clear disadvantage, so they’d have to be on their best behavior.

After almost ten minutes of waiting in the conference room surrounded by what Jemma and Fitz had started to classify as the enemy, the door opened behind them. Jemma and Fitz were the only ones who weren’t facing that way so they couldn’t see the door and it was surprising when suddenly all of their colleagues practically fainted in surprise. Before Jemma could even look over her shoulder a tall figure dressed all in black was brushing past her, followed by a more petite figure in a suit, and the familiar lab coat of the director. Jemma’s mouth dropped open in surprise. She hardly registered Fitz’s hand on her shoulder. 

Director Fury stood at the front of the room and surveyed them with a disgruntled look on his face. The small Asian woman to his left regarded everyone calmly. The director of sciences smiled reassuringly. The seconds ticked by as no one said anything. Jemma wanted to sink down in her seat and disappear when Fury looked her way. He was absolutely terrifying.

“You’ve been called here today because I am putting together a team of highly qualified agents with the specific directive to discover and neutralize foreign threats in civilian zones. If that doesn’t sound like your cup of espresso, I suggest you leave now,” Fury said loudly. Fitz and Jemma both stayed put, more because they were stunned than because of anything else. A field team. Fitz had never much cared one way or the other, preferring in some cases the safety of their lab to the great outdoors, but Jemma had always wanted to see the world. It’d been her dream ever since she was very small to see everything, to learn everything, experience everything. Now she was finally getting her chance, and she felt absolutely one hundred percent torn about it.

It’d always been easy to imagine leaving everything behind. Parents expected their children to move out. Friends could be called and emailed regularly, even if you missed them and loved them desperately. Best friends were harder, but Fitz and Simmons traveled together so there was no problem there. Other familiarities, coffee, tea, a certain view out of a certain window; all of them could be replaced. She imagined they would be homesick, like she’d been when she first left England, but she’d also imagined it would be worth it. Now she had Skye. 

Skye wasn’t just a friend. She was… everything. She was significant. She was family. Beyond the fact that Jemma was beginning to fall madly in love with her (or maybe she already was. Honestly she couldn’t tell any more), Skye was a part of their everyday routine. Even as just a friend she wasn’t just a friend. She was the coffee and the tea and the certain view from the certain window, being so tied, in Jemma’s mind, to the Corner Café, which had been a staple of their time in the city since their very first day. Jemma couldn’t imagine leaving Skye behind. She wasn’t just an object whose permanence in their lives would fade with time. She was a whole living being.

At the same time Jemma wanted nothing more than to be chosen for the field team, because she’d be seeing things no one had ever seen before. It’d be an honor, and maybe in the back of her mind she believed she deserved it, that Fitz deserved it, because they’d always worked ten times harder and known ten times more than anyone else. The people they’d graduated with were still level 1. Honestly they were just the best, and they’d do the best, and Jemma very much wanted to be the best and do the best. It was adventure, achievement, and science all rolled into one. What wasn’t to like? 

But she also couldn’t leave Skye.

“We have to do it,” Fitz whispered in her ear as the small Asian woman introduced herself as Agent May and began to explain how they would go through the vetting process.

“I know,” Jemma whispered back sadly. Fitz frowned at her.

“What now?” he hissed. Really, he’d been listening to her complain all morning.

“Skye. We can’t just leave without her,” Jemma hissed back. Wasn’t it obvious? 

“We can’t not go, either,” Fitz whispered.

“Perhaps we could bring her with us?” Jemma mused quietly. The woman was glaring at them now but neither noticed. This was what they did. 

“No we can’t Jemma. It’s Shield, there’s no way she could get in right now! Maybe in a few years but now?” Fitz whispered incredulously.

“I can’t leave her behind,” Jemma insisted. Fitz gave her a stern look.

“I don’t want to do it either, but this is everything we’ve worked for. We can still call, and skype, and we’ll be back between missions every few weeks. It won’t be forever. They mostly need a team to help with the clean-up after New York,” Fitz argued.

“Is there something the two of you would like to share with the class?” Agent May asked sharply. Jemma and Fitz looked up quickly and shook their heads.

“If you don’t want to go through the process you can always leave now,” she reminded them. Fitz gave Jemma a pointed look. Jemma knew he was right. They couldn’t just pass up on opportunity like this. Oh goodness, what was she going to tell Skye?

“We want to, very much, we were just discussing… logistics,” Jemma replied carefully. Agent May raised an eyebrow at them but continued on with her explanation.

“All right then,” she said flatly, “The interviewing process will take place sometime in the next three weeks. We’ll let you know. Any questions?”

The walk back to the lab after their impromptu meeting was completely quiet. Jemma was running through all of Skye’s possible reactions. She’d just agreed to a three year contract in the event they got the job, most of which would be spent somewhere other than wherever Skye was. She’d basically made a pact with the government to leave her girlfriend. What kind of person did that? How was she even going to explain it? They’d just gotten knew positions and now two months later they were just going to up and disappear from the world! It was absolutely insane.

Jemma was so lost in thought she almost didn’t hear Fitz gasp in surprise as they neared the lab. He shook her shoulder roughly to get her attention and pointed ahead of them into their lab. Skye was sitting on Jemma’s desk playing with the glass DNA paper weight Jemma’s parents had given her as a graduation gift. How had she even gotten in? There were three security doors between the sidewalk and the lab and it was doubtful anyone had opened the door for her. Jemma’s eyes narrowed as she thought back to what Skye had told her about her less than legal past. Every other thought flew out the window as she marched towards the lab, even those of their impending reassignment. 

Skye had only been in the lab for five minutes. She’d taken the day off work to have meetings with her advisor and teachers, and then dropped by to surprise her two favorite scientists. It’d only taken her a couple of seconds to duplicate the magnetic strip of an agent coming into the building (some dude named Coulson whoever that was) and imprint it onto a blank credit card she had laying around for just such occasions. Then all she had to do was hack the feed from the weird face readers and use her little baby electrodes to project the agent’s face on top of her own. Because computers don’t see thing like humans see things, it’s pretty easy to trick them with magnets and light. Of course she had to make sure she did it when no one was looking, but lucky for her something big was happening in the lobby, so no one took much mind of her.

Jemma keyed into the lab and walked swiftly to Skye’s side. Skye smiled at her, but the smile faded when she saw the scowl on Jemma’s face. Oh man she was in trouble.

“In my defense I was really really excited,” she blurted out. It wasn’t exactly how she wanted to go about this whole surprise thing, but it was going to suffice. It wasn’t like she’d broken in for no reason. The science babes hadn’t been picking up their phones and she had brilliant, fantastic news to share with them. Maybe she’d jumped the gun a little bit but Skye hadn’t thought in a million years that she’d be where she was in that moment.

“You broke into our lab?” Jemma asked curtly. Skye nodded solemnly.

“Sorry,” she muttered. Jemma sighed. She wasn’t mad at Skye, exactly. She just didn’t want Skye to get in trouble, or hurt, or any of the other horrible things that could happen to a person that broke into a shield facility. It was completely out of Jemma’s control, and she would have been heartbroken if Skye got arrested because she was on her way to see her.

“You broke into our lab?” Fitz exclaimed from somewhere behind them, “How in the bloody hell did you do that?” Skye let herself grin a little at his enthusiasm and even Jemma softened her features a bit.

“You could’ve gotten in trouble,” she chastised. Skye shrugged.

“I just really needed to talk to you,” she explained. Breaking in really wasn’t that big of a deal. She wasn’t stealing anything and she wasn’t actually going anywhere off limits as far as she could tell. They’d probably just kick her out if they’d caught her. It wasn’t worth it to press charges against a kid just standing in the lobby or looking for her girlfriend. Jemma knew, of course, that Skye hadn’t really done anything drastic. They worked in a lower level building with less of the cool stuff. Hell, school field trips went through from time to time. Really a warning was all any of them would have gotten, but it was still a bad habit to be in, breaking into places. She sighed and tried to focus on what Skye was telling her and less on the twinge she felt in her soul when someone broke the rules. 

“What did you need to talk about?” Jemma asked curiously. Was it about what had happened the day before? Skye grinned at her and jumped off the desk. 

“I came to invite you to my graduation ceremony!” she said excitedly.

“You mean…?” she asked. Skye nodded enthusiastically. Her advisor had let her have a peak at her grades and she was most definitely certainly going to graduate in 14 days with the rest of her oddball peers. Even Fitz perked up at his desk and swung around to grin in their direction. 

“Congratulations, Skye!” he said, coming over to hug her. Skye accepted his hug happily and they squished each other in a very platonic way for a few moments. Jemma watched them in a fond sort of way; happy because her family was happy and because Skye had seemingly passed all her classes. When the two of them finally separated Skye dove straight into Jemma’s waiting arms.

It was like every thank-you Skye had ever said squished into one intense moment, every proud glance or thought of Jemma’s shoved in there, too. Jemma buried her face in Skye’s neck, her arms twined around Skye’s back. Skye had Jemma wrapped up as tightly as she could. She owed everything to Jemma. There was no way she would have passed her class without her, and there was no way she would ever be so happy without her. Skye could have died happy in Jemma’s arms, she really really could have.

Jemma pulled away from their hug ever so slightly in order to pepper Skye’s face with kisses. She was so unbelievably proud she could hardly stand it. Skye giggled and tried half-heartedly to defend herself from the attack. It was hard when she wasn’t willing to unwrap her arms from around Jemma’s shoulders. Jemma murmured a few sweet things, kissing Skye between each one, making goosebumps appear on Skye’s arms. Eventually they did separate, though it was very reluctantly. 

“I still don’t entirely understand why that was so important you had to break in. Of course we’re coming to your graduation!” Jemma exclaimed as she went about cleaning up her prior experiment. It was no good now that they’d left it out during their meeting and Skye’s little interruption.

“It just hadn’t occurred to me that I had anyone to invite,” Skye said simply. Both Jemma and Fitz looked at Skye curiously.

“Well, cause Miles covers my shifts at the café, so he wouldn’t be able to come and I didn’t really have anyone but him until we all became friends and… y’know,” Skye explained sheepishly “I’ve been so focused on just finishing that I hadn’t thought about the fact that I had anyone to invite!” Jemma felt her heart plummet all the way to the floor. They were a bigger part of Skye’s life than she’d ever realized. She swallowed hollowly as she remembered the meeting they’d just vacated. They were most likely leaving for some far off land and Skye wasn’t coming. Skye frowned at the horrified look on Jemma’s face and reached out to hold her hands.

“Hey, you okay? I didn’t scare you with deep emotional stuff, did I?” she joked. Jemma opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to figure out the best way to break the news.

“Skye,” Fitz said, gently gaining her attention, “Simmons and I found out today that we’re in the running for a big fancy field team. They want us to travel around doing crazy science in crazy places. We don’t know for sure yet, if we got it, but we might not be living here for very much longer.” Skye took in the information calmly, her expression hardly changing at all. She honestly didn’t know what to say. The thought that she and Jemma might not live down the street from one another anymore was absolutely terrifying. It was also a thought she’d had before.

“Like, you’re getting reassigned somewhere else?” she asked for clarification. Jemma nodded. 

“It’s an amazing opportunity, and we’d be traveling, not just stationed somewhere. We’d get to come back every few weeks for a couple of days, though most of that time might be filled with work, but there’s no way we wouldn’t see each other. I’d make sure we did,” Jemma said quickly. Skye smiled and squeezed Jemma’s hands.

“It’s okay, I get it,” she said, “I mean we’ve talked about this before, me going off to college, you moving with your promotions? We just didn’t think it would happen this fast.” They’d had several conversations about what they wanted from life, and they always came to the same conclusion. At some point in time they would be separated.

“I didn’t want to do it,” Jemma admitted quietly, “I didn’t want to leave you behind.” There was a bit of fear in her voice, that little waver that always told Skye when Jemma was unsure about something.

“I don’t want to be in separate places anymore than you do,” Skye agreed, “But this is what you’ve always wanted. I could never live with myself if I knew I’d gotten in the way of that. I want you to go and do awesome crazy science. You just aren’t allowed to forget about me, deal?” Jemma smiled at her fondly.

“Why would I make that deal with you?” she teased, “When it’s not even possible for me to forget you in the first place?” Skye smiled and leaned forward to kiss Jemma. A month ago she might have felt abandoned, but something had changed. Jemma gave her so much love that it was hard to imagine it could ever go away.

“You’ll still be here for my graduation, right?” Skye asked hopefully. Jemma nodded happily.

“The assignment shouldn’t start for at least another month, if not longer. We will most certainly be there for you,” she confirmed. Skye grinned. That was all she needed to hear. A big part of her was still scared something would happen, that they’d lose each other somehow, but hell if she didn’t try to squish that part of her down into the dark depths of her mind where she couldn’t hear it at all. Jemma wasn’t like the people in her past, and neither was Fitz. It would be different this time, it had to be.


	8. Chapter 8

Skye did phenomenally on her final. Even Jemma was surprised when Skye showed her the score. In some benevolent twist of fate, Skye had managed to answer almost every single question correctly, even the ones she’d still struggled with on her way out of the Corner Café the day of the final. Skye honestly had no idea how she’d done it. The moment she sat down for the test all the stress just faded away. For the first time in her life it didn’t look like gibberish. She knew she was going to pass the class, and just like that the test wasn’t a big deal anymore. Apparently, relaxing gave her brain time to sneak in and do it’s goddamn job, because here she was two days later with a 98% and a B in the class. (There was no way she was going to get higher than a B. She’d already missed too many points at the beginning of the term.)

With her transcript in hand, Skye walked down to campus for the last time. All she had to do was go to the office, show them her transcript, and receive her graduation goodies. Because the program she was in actually provided it’s graduates with legitimate high school degrees, they went all out for the grad ceremony as well. There were almost three hundred people in her graduating term. Skye had never had a graduation ceremony before, but she had a feeling it was going to be epic.

The office was in the faculty building in the center of the block. It was farther than it was to any of her classes, which had all been in the science building, but Skye hardly noticed as she walked swiftly down the street with her head held high and a smile plastered on her face. She pushed through the double doors and practically bounced to the front desk. The woman sitting there looked up at her a little wearily. You could tell she was used to overzealous college kids and fully prepared to bolt at any minute. Skye slid her transcript across the desk and smiled proudly.

“I, uh, need to pick up my graduation stuff,” she stuttered excitedly. Wow, keep it together Skye, she thought to herself, its just stuff. Only she was really excited and who was she kidding, she’d been waiting for this moment for months. She’d trip over her words if she felt like it, dammit!

The woman just smiled knowingly and dragged the transcript towards herself with on manicured nail. Her fingers danced across the keys as she put in the information, perusing Skye’s transcript as she went. Skye subconsciously started to bounce on her heels and stare at her hands. The faster she got her things the faster she could go show them off. The woman frowned and retyped something. Her eyes swiveled from the transcript to the computer several times.

“I’m sorry,” she said finally, “It looks like there’s a problem with your account.” Skye leaned over the counter to try and look at the screen.

“What kind of problem?” she asked, brow furrowed. The woman made a helpless look and shrugged.

“You have all the right paperwork, your transcript is signed, but when I access your account, it says your degree is incomplete. In fact,” she squinted at the screen, “it doesn’t have any of your completed classes at all.” Skye blinked rapidly. He. Did. Not.

“We see this problem sometimes if someone else is accessing the file and it didn’t save correctly. I can contact your advisor and have them reset from the backup they have over in resources. It should be fixed in a moment, if that’s why they aren’t showing up,” the woman said quickly, trying to reassure her. Skye nodded numbly. It wasn’t her advisor. No, this kind of thing was too much of a coincidence. The tactic had been employed against her before, and she knew exactly who would stoop so low. The woman began to pick up the phone but Skye held her hand out.

“It’s okay,” she said quickly, “I have to go over there anyway. I’ll just come back after we get it all sorted out.” The woman smiled and nodded at her encouragingly. Skye turned on her heel and headed for the door. She needed to find Ward, and she needed to find him now.

Fortunately Skye didn’t need to look far. On her way out of the building she ran straight into the tall and brooding douchebag. She nearly burst into tears and punched him on sight, but the grip he had on her arm was enough for her to contain it.

“Hey!” he exclaimed in a friendly tone, “Long time no see!” Skye just glowered at him.

“What the hell did you do with my school record?” she hissed through clenched teeth. Ward smiled and looked around.

“Why don’t we go over there and catch up?” he said, maintaining the rouse. Skye nodded stiffly, her eyes never leaving his disgustingly chipper face.

Ward led her to a bench in the middle of the quad. It was empty except for a few people walking through. Skye knew Ward wanted to be somewhere he didn’t have to worry about being overheard. She only wondered if he ever considered that maybe he’d want someone to hear his screams, y’know, when she ripped his knee caps off. They sat down and Skye scooted as far away from Ward as possible. He didn’t follow, but he did smirk and roll his eyes. 

“I told you I needed your help but you didn’t listen,” he chided. Skye snorted.

“It’s not help if you blackmail someone to do it,” she corrected him. Ward grinned and shrugged.

“Everything is help. Some of it is help incentivized by money, and some of it is help incentivized by playing dirty. Did you really think I’d let you off the hook? You cost me millions of dollars Skye. You need to pay for the consequences of your actions,” he told her in an obnoxiously condescending voice. Skye swallowed, her nerves starting to over ride her anger. Ward was serious. He really had come back to screw up her life. Obviously she hadn’t covered her tracks as well as she thought.

“How do you even know I was the one who did… whatever it was that happened anyway?” she asked, feebly trying to turn suspicion away from herself. Ward just smirked.

“You were the only one who disappeared. If someone hated me that badly, why would they stick around?” he asked right back. Skye’s heart sank into her stomach. Shit. She’d at least thought that Panache or Mackie would’ve run too. Why the hell had they stayed with the bastard? She’d destroyed everything. They could’ve gotten away so easily, but they hung around long enough for Ward to get his act up and running again? What idiots.

“Fine, what do I owe you then? All the money I lost you? Slave labor for the rest of my life? My first born child? That last one is going to be a bit hard,” Skye growled. Ward snorted in amusement.

“No no, Skye, nothing like that. Just one job. A bank robbery,” he explained, “I need someone to hack into the bank’s security system and shut it down without alerting the people watching the feed or streaming the cameras.” Skye looked at him in confusion.

“You just need me to write some code?” she asked suspiciously.

“Well, that’s where we run into some problems. The inner vault is on a separate, hardwired system. In order to hack it you have to be on one of the banks executive computers, which are locked up pretty tight. We need you to go with us and manually disarm the system. You’re the only one fast enough to get in before the system notices,” he added. Skye looked at him like he’d grown an extra head. He wanted her to what?

“I’m not breaking into a bank with you, Ward,” she hissed at him, “I don’t care if you ruin my whole freaking life, I am not that person. I never was! Maybe I didn’t stand up for myself before, but I’m doing it now. I won’t do it.” Ward just smiled reassuringly at her.

“I still have your IP from your old laptop. Funny thing, laptops, sometimes they can be coaxed on from a distance. I know you still have yours under your bed, and I can lead the cops right to it if I need to,” he threatened gently, “Not to mention you aren’t going to get your school records back if you don’t help me.” Skye bit her lip to stop from screaming in frustration. 

“No,” she said firmly.

“What is your girlfriend going to think when you tell her you can’t graduate? You invited her to the ceremony didn’t you? I thought I’d go, see you walk across the stage like a big girl. Too bad that’s not going to happen. Your Ivy league friends aren’t going to be very impressed,” he continued, hardly even pausing to acknowledge her response. Skye curled her hands into fists. She could see the pained expression on Jemma’s face now, the disappointment and the shame of being set back once again rotting in her stomach as she imagined it. She’d have to tell Jemma what Ward had done, how she couldn’t stop it or him from ruining her life once again. 

“Fine,” Skye mumbled finally, “I’ll write you the code.” It felt like shit, giving in to his demands, but what else was she supposed to do? He had all the bargaining chips and she had nothing. Ward beamed at her.

“I knew you’d see things my way. People always do,” he remarked. Skye felt her stomach roll and stood up.

“I’ll write you the code,” she spat, “But you’re on your own after that. Get someone else to type it in. I won’t do it.” Ward shrugged.

“I guess we can compromise. You have to write a program that can assist whatever piece of trash I get to fill in for you though. No one can match your speed,” he reminded her.

“Sure, whatever. Just give me back my records,” Skye growled, stepping closer to him, “And if you come anywhere near my graduation, I’m turning both of us in.” Ward pulled his fake offended face again. God she was getting tired of that.

“But if I don’t come who will?” he asked. Skye sighed irritably.

“Jemma. Fitz. Miles to if he could close the cafe. I’m not alone anymore, Ward, and nothing you say will change that,” she practically yelled at him. 

“Man, you really are delusional aren’t you? I looked your little friends up and rumor has it they’re moving to a new research facility. Let me guess, you aren’t going with them? They aren’t going to let you tag along forever Skye; you just aren’t in their league. Give up before you get yourself hurt,” he told her. Skye just barely restrained herself from ripping his stupid face off.

“It isn’t like that,” she insisted angrily. Ward put his hands up defensively.

“Maybe it isn’t, but I’ve got a bet for you,” he said calmly, “I bet they won’t show for your graduation, and if they don’t, you have to come with me on the bank job.” Skye stared at him for a few seconds. 

“Fine, deal,” she said icily, “At least now you know for sure all you’re getting is the code.” Ward just smiled at her pleasantly. Skye sighed.

“Send me the specs for the system, I’ll have it in two days,” she promised. Ward dug his cell out of his pocket and dialed an unknown number.

“Yeah, it’s me. Put all those files back would you? Our new partner needs them,” he said smugly. Skye frowned in disgust and turned away from him. He didn’t follow her, but that didn’t stop Skye from feeling his eyes on her all the way back to the office.

She handed the code over two days later on a blue USB she’d bought at Safeway. Her cap and gown were tucked safely away in her room. Ward took it without comment and disappeared. Skye took a deep breathe and blew it out her nose slowly. Three days and she was free forever. Three. Damn. Days.

Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d just sold her soul to the devil. 

Jemma was very worried about Skye. Ever since they’d accepted the nomination for the field team, she and Fitz had seen less and less of Skye. Jemma made sure she kept their dates, of course, but any spur of the moment hanging out they usually did seemed to disappear over night. Skye had been distracted and irritable for the last week or so. Jemma tried her best to cheer her up, but all Skye would do was crawl onto her lap and insist they stay in instead of going out. Jemma didn’t have a problem with it of course, but she felt like she was useless when Skye wouldn’t even tell her what was wrong. Perhaps it was something that just needed to be waited out. That was it. She just needed to be patient. Jemma could do that. 

With a sigh she picked up her dress off of it’s hanger and slipped it on over her head. Skye’s graduation was in an hour, and then they’d be off to celebrate. The mention of graduation had been the only thing putting a smile on Skye’s face lately. They’d all been a little tense with the changes, but this was one good thing they could look forward to. Fitz was in the bathroom trying to tie his tie. He could do it himself, but always doubted his own abilities. Jemma knew she’d have to convince him it was straight in about 3… 2… 1…

The doorbell rang in the front hall and Fitz paused in the doorway to Jemma’s room. She gave him a look and he sighed, going off to see who it was. Obviously she wasn’t going to do it, she was only half dressed. Who would even be coming to see them at this hour? They better not expect to stay long, she thought. She didn’t have to wait long to find out however, because Fitz was back in her room within seconds. 

Jemma caught sight of Fitz in the mirror and jerked around in surprise. Fitz looked like he’d seen a ghost, his face ashen and terrified. Jemma finished pining her hair and went straight to his side.

“Fitz, what is it?” she asked worriedly, “You look like someone’s died!” Fitz just stared vacantly at a space somewhere in front of his nose.

“There’s an agent here, from work,” he said numbly. Jemma furrowed her brow in confusion.

“Well what do they want?” she asked.

“We have to go,” Fitz said. Jemma sighed.

“Yes, I know we do, but what does the agent in the living room have to do with that?” she asked.

“No, Jemma, we have to go. They’re calling us in. It’s part of the interview process,” Fitz explained, frustration lacing his words and breaking his posture. Jemma stared at him in utter shock.

“They can’t do that,” she whispered. Without another thought she marched out of her room and down the hall to the living room. The agent sitting on their couch was the one she’d met with before, Triplett or something. He smiled at her and rose to shake her hand. Jemma did not offer hers.

“You can’t just expect us to drop everything and go god knows where with you,” she said angrily.

“Actually, ma’am, I can,” the agent said gently, “it’s part of the process, and as you know you signed a contract saying you would comply. I’m very sorry if I’m interrupting, but we all have orders.” Jemma stared at him like she’d stared at Fitz, the wheels turning in her head.

“What if I won’t go?” she asked stubbornly.

“Then there will be consequences, most likely a suspension or a demotion that will remain on your permanent record for all eternity,” the agent told her quietly. Jemma felt like she was going to throw up. This couldn’t be happening. She’d promised Skye she would be there. She was expecting them. They couldn’t just not show up. She had to call Skye and tell her what was happening and hope they would be forgiven.

“I need to make a phone call,” she pleaded with the agent desperately, “And then we can be on our way I promise.” The agent shook his head lightly.

“No phone calls. We don’t want anyone knowing where we’re going. It’s a matter of world wide security,” he explained. Jemma closed her eyes and tried to breathe. Skye was never going to forgive her. They were going to be carted off in the middle of the night and no one was ever going to see them again. Why had they ever agreed to the stupid interview process? Why hadn’t they just turned it down? A gentle touch on her shoulder made her jump. It was Fitz, the same troubled expression on his face that was on hers.

“It’ll be fine, Jemma, we don’t have a choice. Skye will understand,” he whispered softly. Jemma sucked in a breath of stupidly hot air and nodded to show she understood. The agent led them quickly out of their apartment and down to a waiting car. Jemma just kept apologizing in her head, over and over again until she couldn’t think. Skye was all alone. What had they done?


	9. Chapter 9

Skye adjusted her cap and looked around nervously. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her system and winding her up. All the graduates were gathered in the back room of the auditorium waiting for the ceremony to start. All she had to do was sit through a few speeches and walk across a stage. It was going to be easy, though she did have a fantasy every couple of seconds that she was going to trip going up the steps to the stage and make an utter fool of herself. Skye was sure everyone had those fantasies. Of course they did. It was human nature or whatever.

There was a small commotion as the line started moving. Graduates that had drifted out of line sprang back to their spots, careful to not get mixed up. Skye looked down to check her robe one last time and took a deep breath. She could feel herself grinning like an idiot and she didn’t even care. The people in front of her moved forward and then they were walking across the stage towards their seats in the first ten rows of the auditorium.

There weren’t very many people sitting in the audience. Skye scanned the first few rows for Fitz and Jemma, but couldn’t seem to find them. That was odd, she thought, they wouldn’t sit in the back. Fitz was notorious for trying to get seats as close to the front as possible regardless of the night’s entertainment. She scanned the crowd again as she sat down, but still she couldn’t find them. There was no way they would have missed it. She’d just talked to Jemma about it that morning. They were both excited about it, so where were they.

Skye tried not to think about the possibility that they really weren’t there. She tried to focus on the speeches that no one cared about, and clap at the appropriate times. It was just that she kept turning around, and they kept not being there. The people on either side of her were starting to get irritated with her for looking over her shoulder so many times, but she couldn’t help it. It felt like all her insides had shriveled up and died. She bit her lip and ignored the way her eyes were burning and the way it hurt to swallow around the lump in her throat. This couldn’t be happening. Where were they?

Skye was so distracted by the hole slowly forming in her heart that she almost didn’t hear her name being called. The guy next to her nudged her shoulder and she stumbled out of her seat and up to the stage. It took her longer than normal to plaster on her fake smile but she was certain she got it there in time when the head of the program smiled at her and handed her the diploma. She stared down at it, expecting to feel overjoyed and accomplished, but all she felt was hollow. She shook hands with the faculty numbly and turned to face the applauding crowd. No Jemma, no Fitz, but there was one person she recognized. Ward was sitting in the third row, his feet up on the chair in front of him and his arms relaxing behind his head. Skye stared at him, dumbfounded. Slowly she found her seat again. This time, she didn’t turn around even once.

When the ceremony was over, Skye bolted from the auditorium and down the hall to the room where she’d left her stuff. It seemed like it took forever to dig her phone out of her bag. She turned it on and waited impatiently for it to show her any missed messages. There was only one, and it was from Miles congratulating her. Skye swallowed, terror clogging her throat and making her shake. She dialed Jemma and frowned when it went straight to voice mail. Jemma never turned off her phone, even when she was in the lab.

“She’s not going to pick up,” Ward said from behind her. Skye whirled around and punched him square in the jaw. His head snapped to the side and he looked surprised for a second, before he smiled a little through the pain and rubbed the spot where she’d connected. Skye shook out her hand gently. Fuck that hurt. Her knuckles were throbbing in a way that did not feel temporary.

“What the hell did you do to them,” she growled. Jemma and Fitz wouldn’t have ditched her. She knew they wouldn’t, which meant Ward must have done something to keep them from coming. She could only imagine what was happening to them. Ward adjusted his jaw and looked at her in amusement.

“I didn’t do anything,” he said flatly, “The office called and they decided that work was more important than you. They’re on their way to their new assignment at this very moment.” Skye shook her head in disbelief.

“How would you even know that?” she asked him sarcastically, “Are you a mind reader now or something?”

“Let’s just say that shield isn’t as airtight as we’ve been led to believe,” he said. Skye blinked in surprise. Usually he would have winked or smirked or any one of those things. Now he was just… serious. Way too serious. 

“She wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye,” Skye argued back, still trying to figure out what exactly had happened that made Ward ditch the sarcastic and flirty act. Ward shrugged.

“You think she wouldn’t, but how long have you two even been together? Do you really know her so well that you know what she would do if someone showed up at her apartment and gave her a promotion as long as she went with them immediately? It was you or the job, Skye, and they picked the job,” Ward told her casually. Skye felt like she’d been punched, so they were about even she supposed. Every time she blinked she was two seconds closer to crying and she just couldn’t believe this was actually happening. She’d known deep down that if push came to shove, they’d pick the job over her. She just hadn’t expected it to ever happen. She’d done everything she could think of to make sure it didn’t happen. Only it hadn’t made a difference. Nothing she did ever made a difference.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked in frustration, “Why are you so hell bent on ruining my entire life? So what I stole two thousand dollars from you. You deal in millions! Do you have some weird crush on me? Is that it?” Ward smirked.

“Well, you were my favorite back in the day, but Skye, really, it isn’t personal,” he said, “I just needed you to be here, in this place, so that you would help me with this one job. You’re one of the strongest people I know, and I knew you weren’t going to agree to help, not with your new perfect life. What you needed was incentive, and a little bit of heartbreak, to see that this is where you really belong. You’re the only one who can do what I need. You’re special, Skye.” She narrowed her eyes. All of this just to get her back on his team? Fine. She’d do it. One more job, just to get him off her back.

“So what now?” she asked quietly. They’d made a deal, after all. She had to help him rob his stupid bank because she’d stupidly thought the universe was on her side. Not only had she failed to get away from Ward in the first place, she’d gambled with him and lost. It was all her fault she was in this stupid mess, with stupid Ward, and his stupid bank job. Maybe she really wasn’t cut out to fend for herself. She was always going to fuck it up eventually.

“Now, we go outside where my buddy is waiting to pick us up and we have ourselves a little fun with other people’s money,” Ward said enthusiastically, swinging an arm around her shoulders. Skye shrugged him off and made a show of ripping off her cap and gown before throwing her bag over her shoulder. Ward rolled his eyes and stalked from the room. Skye balled the cap and gown up tightly, shoving them in the nearest trashcan as she followed after him.

Her diploma was already tucked safely in the depths of her bag. She’d fawn over it later.

The bank turned out to be City National on 3rd. It suddenly made sense how easy it had been for Ward to find her. The café was only six blocks away, and if he’d been walking the area looking for escape routes he definitely would have seen her working eventually. He might have even seen her with Jemma in the kitchen. Skye shuddered in disgust. He probably watched them screwing around. He probably liked it.

The black unmarked car they were in parked around the corner from the bank. There were two other men, one driving and one in the front passenger seat, though Skye didn’t know either of them. Ward would only give them one precise order at a time, which was no doubt one of his crazy ways of staying in control. When they got out of the car two more men melted out of the shadows to meet them. It was almost ten o’clock at night. Without so much as a word, Ward handed Skye a brand new shiny laptop. The USB he’d given her earlier was sticking out of the side. Seriously?, Skye thought, you never leave a USB in a computer. What a loser. 

She set the laptop on the trunk of the car and opened the program she’d built quickly. The faster she got them in the faster she could get the hell out of there and go home. Skye had a firm grip on her inner emotional turmoil, but there was absolutely no telling how long that would last. All she wanted to do was curl up on her bed and have a good cry after the shitty night she’d had. She still didn’t believe Jemma and Fitz were gone, no matter what Ward said (especially after what Ward said. He was about as trustworthy as a broken safe). Once she’d finished Ward’s dirty work, she’d call Jemma again. She’d call as many times as it took for her to pick up, but right now she had to focus and drag herself out of the gigantic mess she was in. 

The overall security system was embarrassingly easy to hack into. It took her five minutes, ten if you counted all the back-up plans she put into place on her way in. Ward watched on, impressed. Skye directed them through a back door, which led into a hallway behind the banks vault that was lined with offices. The second they were through she switched the door alarm back on and disabled the motion sensors.

“We have thirty seconds to make the end of the hallway,” she told Ward quietly. He nodded and directed his men down the hall, Skye trailing behind them as she disabled the next door and just barely got the motion sensors back on in time for the system roll over. 

The next time she looked up from her screen they were in the main room of the bank, with the vault behind them. They’d come through a door on its side and were now wandering about in the open space, checking for people and security guards. Skye had a feeling Ward had already dealt with the security guards, but she tried not to think about it.

With practiced ease she went over to the front desk and logged in to one of the cashier’s computers. Within seconds she had the security camera loop shifted from her laptop to the desktop. The security code wouldn’t notice a loop when it turned over with a computer that was hard lined into the network. It was trained to look for intruders breaking in, not those already inside using the direct connection. As the only flaw of the system it was pretty solid, but no one had really anticipated someone who could walk and hack at the same time.

With the cameras looping, Skye was pretty much finished. Now she just needed to wait for Ward. She couldn’t hack the vault’s separate system until he gave her the go ahead, because they would only have five minutes to get as much money out as they could. Ward was talking with one of the men in a whispered voice. When they were finished, the man disappeared into a side hallway. There were no cameras down that way, and Skye watched him go in confusion. There was nothing back there but offices.

Ward came over and stood beside her casually. It felt disgusting but Skye didn’t dare move. Skye tried to scowl a little less forcefully and her face fell neutral. It wouldn’t do any good if he decided she was being insubordinate. She’d seen what happened to people who hadn’t been one hundred percent happy with Ward’s decisions. He looked at her and smirked before turning around to survey everything again. The men were lining up black bags to fill with money once they got the vault open. Skye tapped her foot impatiently. Why were they taking so long?

The answer came in the form of the absentee bank robber. He returned no more than three minutes later, the prone figure of a man over his shoulder. Skye lurched back in horror and looked at Ward for an explanation. He moved away from her, towards the center of the room.

“Put him right here in the middle,” Ward said distantly, “Make it look like he fell back away from the vault. We’ll kill him once we have the money in the bags.” Skye felt bile rising up in the back of her throat. They were going to kill someone. Holy shit.

“Was this always part of the plan?” she croaked. Ward turned around smoothly and raised an eyebrow in that indifferent way of his that made Skye want to knock him once or twice in the bits. God, a lot of things Ward did made her want to physically harm something. 

“If you mean, did I know he was here? Yes, I did,” Ward acknowledged calmly, “Stanley has been very mean lately. We only play with kids who play nice, so Stanley has to go.” He gestured at the limp body on the ground for emphasis. Skye recoiled in absolute disgust. How had she ever thought Ward was going to save her? He was a monster.

“I didn’t agree to this,” she said, shaking her head violently, “You said we’d be stealing, not killing people.” 

“You aren’t helping kill anyone. You’re just watching,” Ward said dismissively. Skye clenched her jaw. Ward was taking this too far. She wasn’t going to help him kill someone, no matter who they were.

“No,” she snapped back, “I’m not watching. I’m leaving.” Ward looked at her, seemingly puzzled.

“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that,” he said menacingly. Skye shut the laptop stubbornly and moved away from the desk.

“I’m not going to stand-by and let you kill someone. If you want to stage this as a robbery so bad, grow a pair and do it yourself,” she said defiantly. She was angry, and upset, and scared, and none of it mattered if she didn’t get out before Ward did something truly awful. Her eyes were filling with tears, apparently her body’s natural response to evil fuckery.

“Skye,” Ward said quietly, “You’re only here because of your hacking skills. Get back to the computer.” His words were accompanied by the sound of a gun cocking and the flash of metal in his hand as he aimed confidently for the center of her forehead. The others were watching now. Skye took in shuddering breath after shuddering breath and tried to figure out how she ended up here, in the dark, in a bank, in the middle of the night with a gun pointed at her head. That’s why he’d dropped the act with her at the auditorium. He didn’t care if she saw the cold, calculating killer beneath his sarcastic bad-boy skin. He’d never been planning on her leaving the bank alive. Very slowly she moved back towards the laptop. 

“Okay, no direct confrontation with the ambiguous morals, noted,” she mumbled. With one hand she opened the laptop again. Ward smirked and nodded at her. Skye ran her fingers over the keys, typing faster than she ever had before. She only had one chance to get this right. Ward was going to regret he’d ever picked her up off the street.

The program to the outer security system was still open. She switched over to it without flinching, knowing that if Ward came over to check her progress and looked at the screen, he’d know immediately that something was up. She turned her Trojan around and made it search for the silent alarm. At the same time she opened one of the video feeds and cut the loop so it showed what was actually happening. She cut out a ten second clip and sent it to the computer on the other end of the security system. It only took her a minute to put in place, but in the mean time she kept typing, setting up the code to open the vault. He would get suspicious if she took too long. With the silent alarm in the left window and the vault in the right window, she hit ctrl+enter. 

With a subtle hiss, the door to the vault popped open just as the silent alarm was activated. Ward waved his men forward, but kept his own eyes on Skye. His gun never wavered. Her only hope was that the police would distract him enough to give her a way out. As carefully as she could, she turned off the silent alarm and set her Trojan back in the correct place. Now all she had to do was wait.

The men were halfway there when they first heard the sirens. Skye cursed under her breath and began to bang away at the keyboard furiously. Ward rushed to her side, fury in his eyes.

“What the hell did you do?” he yelled.

“Don’t look at me!” she said, “Everything is fine on my end. None of the alarms have been tripped.” Ward glared at the screen and Skye fought the urge to smirk triumphantly. The programs weren’t going to tell him a thing. Ward growled angrily and turned away from her to gather his men. The front door blew open and a squad of heavily armored police burst in. Skye grabbed the laptop off the table and ran for the door they’d come through before. She hauled ass down the hallway to the back door. She hoped the police had all gone to the front. She’d only tripped the silent alarm that went off when one of the front windows was broken. It didn’t matter that much really, they had her face on camera. She was probably screwed anyway. With a deep breath she threw open the back door and ran straight into a police officer.

Before she could turn away, the officer looked her in the eye, easily memorizing her face. Shit. He made a grab for her arm but Skye ducked and took off. He shouted after her, but Skye didn’t even slow down. Her fear had taken over the second she’d stepped out from behind the desk. Her bag jumped around as she ran, slung over one shoulder as it was. Her other shoulder was slowly oozing blood. Skye put her hand to what she assumed was only a flesh wound, and tried to stop the bleeding.

She couldn’t go to Miles now, not after that cop saw her face. The police would be after her as soon as they knew who she was, and she had no doubt that Ward would be happy to direct them right to her. Instead she kept walking toward campus until she was at the front door of a very familiar apartment building. She didn’t even think about it. Her feet carried her into the lobby and up the stairs. Fitz had hollowed out part of the molding around the door and stuck an extra key inside because he hated not being prepared. He’d told Skye about it weeks ago, just in case.

The apartment was dark. Skye stepped inside and closed the door behind her. There wasn’t a sound from anywhere. Usually Fitz or Jemma would hear her if she let herself in late after class and came walking out from their rooms. This time there was nothing, not even light spilling out of the bathroom, which Jemma always left on so she could see where she was going when she woke up at six and it was still dark out. Fitz was the one who was often up so late, but even he made no appearance for their hallway small talk before Skye slipped in to Jemma’s room to cuddle her already sleeping girlfriend.

This time Skye walked to Jemma’s room alone, in the dark. The door was open, and there were still clothes on the bed. No doubt they’d left in a hurry for their fancy new job. Skye gently moved all the clothes away and slid under Jemma’s covers. It smelled like her, of course. Skye wondered how long that was going to take to fade away. She had no idea if they were ever coming back and her phone was somewhere in the blackness and there was no way she was getting up for it. She was so tired; exhausted from her crazy night and the emotional crap she’d gone through. Skye pulled Jemma’s pillow to her chest and sighed heavily. Within moments she’d begun to cry, deep, shaking sobs that made the bed creak. Before long she was asleep, tears still making their way down her cheeks in her slumber.


	10. Chapter 10

They don’t get their phones back until almost one in the morning. Jemma was exhausted, and she knew that Fitz was starting to waver too. They’d been carted off to some building in the middle of nowhere, had their personal possessions confiscated, and were then run through a series of scientific tests immediately. There were no instructions other than various descriptions of disasters they needed to solve, and an inventory of their resources. It was obviously meant to study how well they performed in high-pressure situations with tight time constraints. As far as she could tell, she and Fitz had been the only ones to finish every single test within the time limit. 

After they’d finished, everyone was led into a large lecture hall and told to sit somewhere near the front. They’d been given their things back and allowed to turn their phones back on as well, which was the very first thing Jemma did. Fitz had to lead her out of the way of the other scientists; she was so engrossed in her phone. The one missed call from Skye was the only thing that appeared when it finally came on. Jemma stared at her phone in intense concentration. Skye only calling once was a bad sign, and Jemma didn’t want to wake her by calling her now. Perhaps it would be better just to wait until morning.

Fitz nudged her, giving her an inquiring look. She shook her head and tucked her phone away. First thing in the morning, she promised Skye silently. Up at the front of the room important people were starting to file in; Director Fury, Agent May primarily, the head of research and technology, and a man that Jemma swore she recognized. He looked just like agent Coulson, the brave agent who’d taken Loki on all by himself during the battle of New York. Only that was impossible. Agent Coulson died in that confrontation. Jemma and Fitz glanced at each other, eyes wide. Was that why Shield had put them through this insane process? The assembled panel arranged themselves at the lectern and waited patiently for the sixteen teams to quiet down. Jemma reached over and gripped Fitz’s hand. This was it. 

“Hello,” the Coulson look-alike said, “By now you’ve all probably noticed that this has not been a standard interviewing process. I apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused you.” He paused and looked around at them, a small casual smile on his lips.

“I’m sure most of you have recognized me as the infamous Agent Phil Coulson. It seems there was a rumor going around that I died in the battle of New York, but I can assure you I’ve gotten a lot of rest and managed to walk it off. I’m here because I’m heading the new team Fury is putting together. I want to use our time here in this room as a sort of de-briefer. You will be allowed to ask questions and share any qualms you have with the nature of this promotion,” he continued. 

“Bloody hell,” Fitz whispered under his breath. Jemma was about to copy the sentiment when her phone buzzed in her lap. Jemma looked down at it in surprise. She had a new text message from an unknown number. As discreetly as she could, she unlocked her phone and opened the message.  
Jemma it’s Miles. Skye’s in trouble. Police were just here and I don’t know where she is. Pls call me.

Jemma stared down at the message in stunned silence. Skye was in trouble? How had that happened? Without a moment to lose she texted Miles back.

What happened? 

It was all she could do in her current position. She had a feeling they weren’t going to be taken back to the city for another hour at the most. Her fingers gripped the phone tightly. She needed to get out of there. Fitz looked over and nudged her again, this time gesturing to the phone. She turned the screen so he could read the message. Immediately his eyes went wide and he looked up at her. She nodded ever so slightly. Fitz nodded once and started looking around for the exits.

That Ward guy she used to work with tried to frame her for a bank robbery or something. They caught him but she’s missing, Miles responded a moment later. Jemma went cold at the mention of Skye’s former associate. So that’s what had been bothering her. Somehow Ward had gotten to her again. This was worse than she suspected. Without even thinking about it, Jemma rose to her feet. Her heart was pounding and she could hardly focus with the terror pumping its way through her blood. Skye could be dead somewhere, or on her way to jail at this very moment. The room around her fell quiet.

“So sorry to interrupt, Sir. Fitz and I need to go. There’s been a family emergency,” she said loudly. She wondered if the others could hear her voice shaking or if she was keeping it together. She honestly couldn’t tell. Coulson and May looked at each other then back at Jemma. 

“What kind of emergency?” May asked coldly. Something told Jemma that Agent May was remembering the first time she and Fitz had interrupted.

“Our… friend is missing,” Jemma explained nervously. They were never going to let them go unless someone was dying!

“I thought you said it was a family emergency,” Fury interrupted.

“With all due respect sir, blood doesn’t make a family. Love does,” Fitz spoke up from behind Jemma. Her heart clenched at Fitz’s words. Yes, love, exactly. They loved Skye and she needed them and that should be enough of a reason.

“She’s brilliant, you see,” Jemma blurted out before she could stop herself, “She works on computers. She fixed my network in three minutes, and she taught Fitz to code in a single afternoon. You wouldn’t believe how kind she is, and so very optimistic. Not to mention she’s just put herself through school while working full time. And now she’s in trouble and she needs us because we are her family. Her only family.” Coulson folded his hands neatly on the table in front of him.

“I feel like nothing I say will change your mind on this,” he said suspiciously.  
“You’d be correct,” Fitz said, “We only agreed to this promotion because we thought we could have both, but if we can’t…”

“We’d choose her every time,” Jemma finished confidently. Coulson smiled.

“Trip, drive Dr. Simmons and Dr. Fitz wherever they need to go,” he said to Agent Triplett. Trip nodded and gestured toward and exit near the back. Jemma practically laughed out loud at the wave of relief that washed over her. Together, Jemma and Fitz hurried out of the lecture hall. It was already nearly two in the morning. There was no time to lose.

They decided that the first place they should go was back to their apartment. For all they knew, Skye had come by looking for them and had left some kind of note. They took the stairs two at a time, bickering the entire way about where they should look for her first. Fitz thought an internet café was most likely, but Jemma was sure Skye would try to stay out of sight, perhaps in a bar with dark corners and rather lax social standards. It was hard to know where Skye would go when she’d never spoken about having a favorite place or specific haunts. She spent all of her time with them or at the café, not counting when she was at school of course. 

“Really Jemma, it isn’t practical to check every bar in the city,” Fitz hissed at her as they hurried down the hall to their door.

“Oh and internet cafes would be any faster? Both options are equally as time consuming, Fitz!” Jemma hissed back. She ended the argument by slipping her key into the door and walking into the apartment. Fitz squeezed in behind her with a disgruntled huff. He opened his mouth to start arguing again but stopped when he saw Jemma. She was standing absolutely still just a few steps into the apartment.

“Jemma?” he asked worriedly. Jemma didn’t hear him. She was frozen to the spot, staring at Skye’s bag sitting against the wall where Skye had dropped it on her way in. Her heart felt like it was going to break right in half. Skye was here. When everything else had crumbled on her, Skye had come here.

Without a sound Jemma walked down the hallway to her room. The door was closed and she distinctly remembers leaving it open. She pushed at it hesitantly, scared of what she might find on the other side. The light from the hall fell across the floor and illuminated the room. Jemma swallowed roughly and stared at the figure curled up on her bed. She didn’t even notice Fitz behind her. She stepped towards her bed, one foot slowly following the other, until she was sinking down into the mattress and running her hands through long brown hair. Skye. 

Skye hadn’t heard them come in. She was out cold, but the light on her eyes made her stir and by the time her body was awake enough to reboot there was a body sitting next to her and a hand gently stroking her hair. She blinked in confusion and looked up to see Jemma frowning down at her. In an instant her heart was full of warmth and she was surging up to throw her arms around Jemma’s shoulders. Her right shoulder stung painfully but she ignored it. Jemma was safe. Jemma was home. Fitz smiled at her from the doorway and gave her a little wave. Skye smiled softly back, her eyes filling with tears. 

Jemma hugged Skye back carefully. She could feel the tension rolling off of Skye’s body as she fully woke up. She’d been so worried that they were going to find Skye the next morning in a ditch somewhere, and she’d been here all along. It wasn’t until Skye pulled away to cup Jemma’s face in her hands and really look at her that Jemma noticed the gash on Skye’s arm. She gasped at the blood at the exact moment Skye kissed her, which allowed Skye to slip her tongue into Jemma’s mouth. Jemma kissed her back out of habit but pulled away to inspect the wound not a second later. Being this close to Skye after being so worried was more intoxicating than Jemma originally anticipated.

The wound was shallow, hardly more than a graze really, and wouldn’t need stitches. Jemma pulled the fabric of Skye’s shirt away from the mess and tried to see if there was any dirt in it. Skye just stared at Jemma. She’d really thought she was never going to see them again after they’d just disappeared off the face of the planet. She didn’t even care anymore that they’d missed her graduation, she was so happy to see them alive and well. Not knowing where they were bothered her more than their absence in the first place. 

“You’re hurt,” Jemma said softly, leaning in to give Skye another kiss. 

“I can’t even feel it,” Skye whispered against her lips. Jemma sighed and kissed her again.

“Fitz, I need the first aid kit,” she called out, turning away from Skye ever so slightly. Skye nuzzled into her cheek in the meantime, fingers weaving themselves into Jemma’s hair. Her surprise and elation at seeing them was starting to wear off, and the deep dark fear was returning. The police were still looking for her, who knows if they actually caught Ward, and now she had to explain to Jemma how she’d broken the law again. Skye sighed and slumped against Jemma a little bit more. Jemma felt Skye give way and began to rub soothing patterns into her side. The guilt was eating her up inside. If they’d been with Skye none of this would have happened. It was all her fault for not refusing to go, for not picking Skye over the job.

Fitz returned with the first aid kit and handed it over before kneeling next to the bed. He wrestled Skye’s arm away from Jemma and rolled the torn sleeve up over the wound as Jemma searched for the things she would need from the white box on her lap. Skye hissed as the fabric pushed past the cut and lifted her head to watch what they were doing. Fitz cleaned the cut gently and Jemma cut the bandage, the two working in tandem like they’d done every day of their lives. Skye cleared her throat and tried to get the salty taste off her tongue by swallowing several times.

“What happened to you guys,” she asked hoarsely. Her voice was almost gone. Fantastic. 

“Apparently part of our interview process involved whisking us off with no warning to complete a series of field simulations,” Jemma said ever so bitterly. 

“The agent who picked us up didn’t exactly say we’d be arrested if we didn’t go willingly, but he implied it,” Fitz added grumpily. Skye raised her eyebrows. Wow, shield liked to play hardball.

“So did you get the job?” she asked curiously, “Is it over?” God she hoped it was over. Jemma looked up and smiled faintly at her.

“We don’t know, we walked out when we got Miles’ text saying you were in trouble,” she told her.

“We told them we wouldn’t choose between a job or our family. Surprisingly they let us come back. Probably because Jemma made a three minute speech about how amazing you are,” Fitz muttered. Jemma blushed and focused back on wrapping Skye’s arm. Skye smiled slowly. They’d picked the job over her? She leaned forward and kissed Jemma on the cheek. 

“Miles said the police came looking for you and that he couldn’t find you,” Jemma said. She carefully left out mentioning Ward, in case Skye wasn’t comfortable talking to them about it yet. Skye’s smiled faltered and she looked away. 

“I did something stupid,” she admitted quietly, “I let Ward convince me to do one more hacking job with him so that he would leave me alone. Turns out I was helping him commit a murder, and when I said I wouldn’t help anymore, he threatened to kill me. I alerted the police and on the way out a stray bullet must have wanted to be my friend.” Skye gestured down at her arm. Jemma adjusted her position so that she could put her arm around Skye’s waist and Fitz hopped up on the bed on Skye’s other side.

“I’m sorry, I know I messed up,” Skye apologized softly. She jumped slightly as Fitz’s hand slipped into the one Jemma wasn’t already holding.

“You didn’t Skye, you saved the whole damn day,” he told her. She shrugged, not exactly sure of that.

“If I hadn’t made a deal with him none of this would have happened in the first place,” she argued. 

“Yes it would have,” Jemma said pointedly, “He would have found some way to pull it off. Now he’s in custody. He can’t hurt anyone ever again.” Skye smiled slightly at the thought of Ward in custody.

“They’re still going to arrest me,” she said, “I still helped him.” Jemma and Fitz shared a look.

“They’ll understand, I think,” Jemma said.

“And you won’t face them alone either,” Fitz added, “We’ll all go down to the precinct in the morning together.” Skye smiled, her shoulders feeling twenty times lighter than they had in days. 

“Now, I’m going to go to bed, before I fall over,” Fitz yawned. He padded off in the direction of his room amidst a round of goodbyes and shut the door behind him. Jemma yawned next, followed closely by Skye, who took the opportunity to flop over onto the bed and curl back into a semblance of her previous position. Jemma snorted and undressed into something suitable for sleeping as quickly as she possibly could. When she was done she slipped in beside Skye and opened her arms. Skye instantly rolled over into Jemma and snuggled as close as she could get. 

“We should have just let them arrest us, or demote us or whatever they were going to do,” Jemma murmured, her eyes drifting closed as she settled in. 

“No, you didn’t have a choice,” Skye said, already half asleep.

“I love you, Skye,” Jemma whispered. It was the first time either of them had ever really said it. Skye’s lips quirked up in half of a smile.

“I love you too,” she whispered back. Jemma smiled and hugged Skye just that much tighter. By the time they were both sound asleep, they were so tangled together it was going to be a miracle if they ever made it apart again.

Maybe that was kinda the point.

When Skye woke up, Jemma’s head was on her chest and she was flat on her back. She stared at the ceiling for a moment, processing the fact that yesterday had in fact happened. Jemma sighed softly and opened her eyes. The second she realized where she was and who she was with, she leaned up to kiss Skye deeply. Skye scrunched up her face in surprise and kissed her back. They stayed like that for several minutes, just thinking. Before long there was a knock at the door.

“Come in Fitz,” Jemma called. The door opened and Fitz appeared with two mugs of coffee. The ladies sat up immediately to accept the offering. Fitz took his place on Skye’s side of the bed.  
“How are you feeling?” he asked with a smile. Skye took a sip of her coffee and nodded appreciatively.

“Just enjoying my last cup of good coffee before I’m hauled off to jail,” she joked sarcastically. Jemma scoffed.

“Don’t even joke,” she said. 

“I’m not joking. I assisted with a bank robbery and attempted murder,” Skye said more seriously.

“Yes, about that. I just got a call from the office. Somehow they knew you were here?” Fitz said anxiously, “They asked all of us to come in as soon as possible.” Skye sighed and stood up, searching under the bed for her shoes.

“Let’s get it over with then,” she said, taking another swig of coffee as she dressed. Fitz and Jemma shared a glance. If Shield was asking for them, something else was going on. Wordlessly Jemma stood up and went to the closet to find fresh clothes. Fitz made himself scarce so they could have their privacy, all the while wondering what bargaining chips they had to get Skye out of whatever Shield tried to put her in.

Fifteen minutes later they were shown into a small meeting room on the fourth floor. Skye was spinning nervously in her chair. Jemma was staring at a space on the wall, listing every possible way they could escape if they needed to. Fitz was thinking along the same lines, only he was also listing all the places they could get breakfast as fugitives. They hadn’t had time to stop by the bakery on the way in. 

Suddenly the door opened and Coulson walked in followed closely by Agent May. He smiled at them all and took a seat at the head of the table. May stood behind his right shoulder, her face neutral. Skye took a deep breath and prepared herself mentally for whatever was coming next. Jemma looked at her in alarm and started to say something but stopped. Skye didn’t know who Coulson was, and Jemma didn’t know if she was allowed to say. In the end she just reached over to hold Skye’s hand. Coulson glanced at the connection, his smiled growing a little wider. He’d thought so.

“I have good news, Dr. Fitz and Dr. Simmons, you have officially been vetted as the scientists who will accompany the new field team,” he told them calmly. 

“Sir, we can’t possibly be put on a field team,” Jemma began

“We’re grateful for the opportunity but..” Fitz said at the exact same moment. Coulson held up his hand.

“I said good news, you two, not regular news,” he said with a small smirk. Damn I’m funny, he thought to himself. Without further ado he turned to Skye. She looked like she was scared out of her mind, but she squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye anyway. She wasn’t going to let them take her dignity. If she was going to go she was going to go with her head held high.

“My colleagues and I looked you up last night. Turns out your finger prints are all over hundreds of open theft cases,” Coulson said nonchalantly. Skye frowned slightly. Aw shit, they’d found her code.

“It was pretty damn impressive actually, and after speaking to Mr. Ward about when exactly you started working for him, we’ve had you pardoned from all cyber-crimes. The level of manipulation he used in employing was more than enough to prove you didn’t commit the crimes because you wanted to,” he added. Skye’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t be serious. They’d really gotten her pardoned on every single one of her crimes? Jemma and Fitz both looked at her with wide eyes. Jemma especially felt so happy she could scream. Skye was free. Coulson smiled at their reactions and slid a piece of paper across the table to her. Skye looked at it curiously. It was a job application.

“If you could just fill in the bubbles real quick. Ignore the questions, we already know the answers,” Coulson told her. Skye took the pen he offered and quickly filled in the application. She had a hunch she knew where he was going with this. Jemma looked at Coulson in disbelief. He couldn’t possibly be suggesting what she thought he was. Fitz put his head in his hands, his smile threatening to break his face. 

Skye handed the application back to Coulson and he immediately handed it to May. May looked it over once and nodded curtly. Coulson turned back and smiled at the three young agents in front of him.

“Congratulations, you’ve just been selected to be our communications intern. We’ve been looking for one, but hadn’t exactly found one for the job. We knew the second we saw your work that you were the kind of person we wanted for our team,” he told Skye. Skye put her hand over her mouth and looked at Jemma. Jemma was smiling wildly. It was perfect. Skye would come with them and be a part of the team and it would be like nothing had ever changed.

“I.. uh.. thank you, Sir,” Skye said carefully. Coulson smiled.

“Don’t thank me,” he said, “Thank Fitz and Simmons; they’re the ones who made the speech.” Skye started laughing and soon everyone had joined in. Jemma leaned over and kissed her soundly. She was so proud of Skye she could hardly contain it. Skye kissed her back and for the first time it occurred to her that maybe this arrangement was permanent. Like really permanent. She sat back and looked at Jemma. Permanent would be nice. Jemma seemed to catch on to what was thinking and nodded slowly. Yes, permanent would be lovely.  
It was almost three months later that they returned to the Corner Café. Miles waved to them from the back as they came in and sat at their usual table in the corner. This time they were three stronger, having added Coulson, May, and Trip to their pose. Fitz and Simmons were bickering as always over some new technology that had broken over the weekend. Skye was listening intently to Trip and Coulson discuss the Second World War. May sat calmly on the end, a slight smile on her face as she listened to everyone at once.

It wasn’t long before Miles came over to take their order. He did a double take when he saw Coulson and then started laughing.

“I should’ve known it was you,” he said. Coulson shrugged.

“What can I say, I like to help out the occasional hacker,” he joked. Miles nodded.

“You also like to place orders the day before you need them, and I always come through for you,” he reminded Coulson. 

“I got you the bakery in the first place,” Coulson said adamantly. Skye and Jemma looked at each other in confusion. What the hell? The others were also looking at Coulson curiously. He sighed and gave Miles the floor.

“Fine, back in the day Coulson caught me selling information. He didn’t arrest me, but he did take all the money and he gave me this fancy little bracelet,” he raised his wrist to show off a sleek black circlet on his arm, “That only lets me check my email and surf the web. He told me it was my one chance to go straight, and I believed him. Two months later I was working in this bakery with the guy who originally owned it back in the day. He left it to me in his will and here I am!” Skye gawked at him in excitement.

“Wait are you telling me that you and Coulson are total bros?” she asked excitedly. Miles nodded ruefully. Skye laughed out loud. Jemma was hardly holding in her giggles as well. Fitz just looked between the two in shock. May and Trip smiled at each other, silently agreeing they had the best shield family.

“That totally means that big order that came in was from Coulson! He was the reason Jemma had to help me in the kitchen and we ended up-“ Skye fell silent quickly, her cheeks reddening, “Um, actually never mind.” Miles looked at her in horror.

“What the hell did you two do in my kitchen?” he asked. 

“Well we cleaned it if that’s what you’re asking,” Jemma said, pursing her lips. To her left Fitz slowly put his hand over his eyes, his smile growing wider by the second. Skye started giggling again, and before long all four of the younger agents were half bent over the table laughing their asses off. Coulson just shrugged. May shook her head knowingly. Kids these days.

Beneath the table Skye laced her fingers with Jemma’s and gave them a squeeze. Jemma turned and smiled at her lovingly. Their lives had been forever changed by each other. Neither could imagine what would have happened if Skye hadn’t come over and offered to fix Jemma’s computer. Perhaps they never would have gotten together, but perhaps no matter what they did they were always going to end up at each other’s side. There was no way to know really. 

All they knew was that they wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
